The University of Bristol operates a complaints procedure. As a learning organisation, we are committed to continuous improvement, and it is important to us to learn from feedback and complaints.

• All your feedback is important to us.
• We want to make it easy for you to raise a concern or complain if you need to.
• We follow a complaints procedure and keep you informed.
• We will try to answer all your questions and any concerns you raise.
• We want you to have a positive experience of making a complaint.
• Your feedback helps us to improve our service.

How to complain

We hope that we can sort most problems simply and speedily at the time they arise. If you wish to make a formal complaint, please do so as soon as possible. If this is not possible, your complaint should be submitted within 12 months of the incident.

Feedback can be provided verbally directly to staff or student, through the CAFS feedback system, or written feedback can be provided to:

Clinical Governance & Patient Safety Manager
Bristol Dental School
1 Trinity Quay
BS2 0PT

Complaints can be made verbally or written and addressed to:

Clinical Governance & Patient Safety Manager
Bristol Dental School
1 Trinity Quay
BS2 0PT

You can also send your complaint by email: bds-complaints@bristol.ac.uk

Complaining on behalf of someone else

There are strict rules around confidentiality (a separate leaflet is available on request). If you are complaining on someone else’s behalf, you must have their permission to do so.

An authority signed by the person concerned will be required unless they are incapable. Prior to acknowledgement of the complaint, the patient will be contacted to gain permission for BDS to respond to the complainant.

How we will handle your complaint

• We will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days.
• We will endeavour to provide a response within 28 days of the acknowledgement.
• If we cannot meet the response deadline, we will advise you why and advise you of a revised timescale.

If you remain dissatisfied

If you remain dissatisfied with the investigation outcome, you can ask for an independent review. Information on how to contact the Health Service Ombudsman is contained in the final letter that will be sent to you.