Kesgrave Dental Care

Privacy Notice for Patients including children

This privacy notice sets out how Kesgrave Dental Care uses and protects any information that you give when joining the practice.

The practice is committed to complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, GDC, NHS, and other standards.

The person responsible for Data Protection is Dr Emma Grant.

What type of information do we hold?

• Personal details such as your address, date of birth, phone number, and email address.
• This is for the provision of dental health care, providing treatment plans, estimates, and recalls.
• Details of your NHS number and entitlement to healthcare treatment and exemption status if applicable.
• Personal details of family members or emergency contact details.
• Medical history including your GP’s name and address.
• Past and present dental history including x-rays and photographs.
• Information about the treatment we have proposed and provided along with its price.
• Notes of conversations or incidents that might occur for which a record needs to be kept.
• Records of permission or consent for treatment.
• Correspondence to other healthcare professions such as referrals.
• Financial information relating to your treatment.
• Details of any complaints made.

Why do we need to keep this information?

We need to keep records of personal information regarding our patients in order to provide safe and appropriate dental care and treatment. It is also used to maintain accurate treatment records.

We also need to process personal data about you if we are providing care under NHS arrangements and to ensure the proper management and administration of the NHS.

Our legal basis for processing data is:

• Consent
• Legitimate interest - Processing is necessary for the performance of our care for patients and for the defence of legal claims.
• Data relating to your health care records is classed as special category data. Our legal basis for processing this is that it falls under Legal claims or judicial acts and Health and Social Care (Article 9 UK GDPR (f,h)).

What do we do with your Information?

We will only share your information if it is done securely and it is necessary for us to do so.

Your personal information may be securely shared with other healthcare professionals who need to be involved in your care (for example if we refer you to a specialist, need laboratory work undertaken or need to consult with your doctor).

We may also share your personal information securely to third parties where we are required by law or regulation to do so. This may include:

• The General Dental Council.
• The CQC/HIW/HIS/RQIA.
• Dental payment plans or insurers.
• NHS Bodies if NHS dental care and treatment is provided.

Please note that the national data opt-out gives everyone the ability to stop health and social care organisations from sharing their confidential information for research and planning purposes, with some exceptions such as where there is a legal mandate/direction or an overriding public interest, for example, to help manage the COVID-19 pandemic.

How do we store your Information?

Your Information is stored securely at the practice on protected computer systems. Computer information is backed up regularly and may be securely stored away from our premises.

Retention periods

• We are required to retain your dental records, X-rays and study models while you are a patient of this practice and after you cease to be a patient for a minimum of 11 years.
• There are several other documents that we may collect that have a variety of retention dates, for example, the NHS PR form – used to declare payment exemptions – which needs to be kept for a minimum of 2 years. We have a retention schedule listing all documents and the timeframes for disposal. Retention periods may be changed from time to time based on business or legal and regulatory requirements.

Your rights under GDPR

• Access: You have a right to access the information that we hold about you and to receive a copy. You can make a request by contacting your practice or by e-mailing.
• Rectification: You have a right to correct any information that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete. Please contact your practice to request a change in information.
• Erasure: You have a right to request that we delete your personal information, although you should be aware that, for legal reasons, we may be unable to erase certain information (for example, information about your dental treatment). Please contact your practice to make this request.
• Restriction: You have the right to request us to restrict the processing of your personal information, for example, sending you reminders for appointments or information about our service. Please contact your practice to make this request.
• Portability: You have a right to data portability; this could include supplying your information to another dentist. Please contact your practice to make this request.

Concerns

If you have any concerns about how we use your information and you do not feel able to discuss it with your dentist or anyone at the practice, you can contact our Data Protection Officer via email at office@kesgravedentalcare.com

You can also seek advice from The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, or start a live chat or call helpline on 0303 123 1113.

Privacy notice for Children

What type of information do we hold?

• Personal details such as your address, date of birth, phone number, and email address. This is for the provision of dental health care, providing treatment plans and recalls.
• Personal details of family members or emergency contact details.
• Medical history including your GP’s name and address.
• Information about the treatment we have proposed and provided.
• Notes of conversations or incidents that might occur for which a record needs to be kept.
• Correspondence to other healthcare professions such as referrals.

Why do we need to keep this information?

We need to keep records of personal information regarding our patients in order to provide safe and appropriate dental care and treatment. It is also used to maintain accurate treatment records.

We also need to process personal data about you if we are providing care under NHS arrangements and to ensure the proper management and administration of the NHS.

What do we do with your Information?

We will only share your personal information to another dentist or doctor, such as for an orthodontic referral. We will not share your personal information to anyone else unless needed for legal reasons.

How do we store your Information?

Your Information is stored securely at the practice [in paper form] [on protected computer systems]. Computer information is backed up regularly and may be securely stored away from our premises.

Retention periods

For children – we will retain your dental records for 11 years or until they reach the age of 25 (whichever is longer).

Concerns

If you have any concerns about how we use your information and you do not feel able to discuss it with your dentist or anyone at the practice, you can contact our Data Protection Officer via email at office@kesgravedentalcare.com

You can also seek advice from The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, or start a live chat or call helpline on 0303 123 1113.

Approved By: Sunkanmi Olaore, Dr Emma Grant
Date Published: 18/06/2024

Kesgrave Dental Care

Missed Appointment Policy

At our practice, we understand that life is unpredictable and schedules can change. Our Missed Appointment Policy is designed with both fairness and compassion in mind, ensuring that we can continue to offer the high-quality, personalised care that every patient deserves.

Cancellations and Rescheduling

We kindly ask that if you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment, please provide us with at least 24 hours' notice. This allows us to reallocate your slot to another patient in need of our care. For appointments exceeding 60 minutes, we appreciate as much notice as possible, ideally 48 hours.

Missed Appointments

A missed appointment is considered as any instance where a patient does not attend their scheduled appointment without providing at least 24 hours' notice. Missed appointments hinder our ability to provide care to other patients who could benefit from our services. There is a fee of £1 per minute of the missed appointment.

Reminders for Your Convenience

To help you remember your appointment, we offer a complimentary text and email reminder service. If you're not already subscribed and would like to take advantage of this service, please speak with our reception team who will be delighted to assist you.

Policy on Non-attendance and Late Arrivals

To ensure fairness and availability of our services to all patients:

• New patients who do not attend their first appointment will regrettably not be offered a subsequent appointment.
• Existing patients who miss two appointments within a year may be unable to book further treatments or appointments.

We are fully aware that sometimes, circumstances beyond our control can affect our plans. While we apply common sense and flexibility in applying our policies, we kindly ask for your cooperation and respect in managing your appointments. This ensures that we can maintain fairness and accessibility for all our patients.

Please note, any form of abuse towards other patients or our staff members is strictly unacceptable.

Your understanding and cooperation help us create a safe, warm, and welcoming environment for all our patients and staff. Thank you for being a valued member of our practice community.

Kesgrave Dental Care

Complaints Policy

We always welcome your feedback, comments and suggestions. For any concerns you wish to raise with us please do speak to our staff directly.

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the dentist or any of the staff working at this practice, please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.

How to complain

We hope that most problems can be resolved easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out this way and you wish to make a complaint, we will respond to your complaint within three working days, enabling us to establish what happened more easily. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem.

Complaints should be addressed to Dr Emma Grant - Complaints Manager, or Sunkanmi Olaore – Deputy Complaints Manager. You may ask for an appointment in order to discuss your concerns. We will explain the complaints procedure to you and will ensure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. It will be a great help if you are as specific as possible about your complaint.

What shall we do

We shall acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and aim to investigate your complaint within 10 working days of the date when you raised it with us. We shall then be in a position to offer you an explanation, or a meeting with the people involved. When we investigate your complaint, we shall aim to:

• Find out what happened and what went wrong
• Make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would like this
• Make sure you receive an apology where this is appropriate
• Identify what we can do to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again

Should a patient make a complaint or claim, we may need to provide information about the patient, and treatment they have received, to insurers, indemnifiers or legal advisers.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of clinical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we must know that you have their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of physical and mental illness) of providing this.

Complaining to Dental Complaints Service

We hope that, if you have a problem, you will make use of our practice complaints procedure. We believe this will provide the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. However, this does not affect your right to complain to an independent body, if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation.

Complaining to Dental Complaints Service

We hope that, if you have a problem, you will make use of our practice complaints procedure. We believe this will provide the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. However, this does not affect your right to complain to an independent body, if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation.

For further advice, you should contact:

Dental Complaints Service
37 Wimpole Street
London, W1G 8DQ
Telephone: 020 8253 0800
(Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm)

General Dental Council
37 Wimpole Street
London, W1G 8DQ
Email: www.gdc-uk.org
Telephone: 0845 222 4141 or 020 7887 3800

Complaints and the CQC

The CQC don't get directly involved with complaints made to the practice. They do, however, encourage giving feedback for service providers. To send feedback to the CQC, please go to: https://www.cqc.org.uk/give-feedback-on-care or Telephone: 03000 616161 Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm Excluding bank holidays

Kesgrave Dental Care

Emergency Appointment Policy

A dental emergency means you require urgent assistance for severe pain, swelling, trauma or other serious dental problem.

Our receptionist is here to guide you, either by arranging a prompt emergency appointment or offering advice on temporary pain relief until you can see a dentist. Once assessed, if your situation is deemed urgent, rest assured we strive to fit you in on the same or next day. For non-urgent dental matters, we promise to address them within a week.

When to Visit A&E

Generally, you should avoid going to A&E for a dental emergency, unless you are experiencing:

• Uncontrollable bleeding in your mouth
• Swelling that affects your breathing or swallowing
• Swelling around your eye or neck

Emergency Appointment Fee

Emergency appointments are £65 in addition to any treatment required.

Please note, any form of abuse towards other patients or our staff members is not tolerated.

Your understanding and cooperation help us create a safe, warm, and welcoming environment for all our patients and staff. Thank you for being a valued member of our practice community.