Policy
APPOINTMENT CANCELATION
It is the aim of this practice to provide quality dental care to our patients on schedule and to use clinical time effectively. To achieve this aim we have an appointment cancellation policy.
Patients are requested to give at least 24 hours notice to cancel a dental appointment. Cancellations should be made by telephone on 0208 831 6870 or by email to info@smileandsmile.co.uk or info@toothbeary.co.uk
There is a fee from £75 for each appointment that are missed or cancelled with less than 24 hours notice.
It is our aim to telephone or write to patients after a missed appointment to understand the reason for non-attendance and to inform them about any fee or decision about their dental care.
Any appeals about missed or cancelled appointment decisions by a patient should be made in writing to Dr Peter-Daniel Das.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Your health and safety is of paramount importance to us and is constantly reviewed in line with current regulations. Please notify a member of staff if you notice any area of concern so immediate action can be taken.
CONFIDENTIALITY
The practice is committed to complying with the requirements of the legislation governing patient confidentiality including: Access to Health Records 1990, Caldicott Guidelines 1997, Confidentiality Code of Practice 1998, Data Protection Act 1998 and the current GDC Standards.
For the purpose of this policy, confidential information is defined as all the information that is learnt in a professional role including personal details, medical history, what treatment a patient is having and how much it costs. The definition of personal details includes, but is not limited by, such details as name, age, address, personal circumstances, race, health, sex and sexual orientation, etc. Note that even the fact that a patient attends the practice is confidential. Confidential information may be supplied or stored on any medium including images, videos, health records, and computer records or may be transmitted verbally.
All staff members are be aware of their responsibilities for safeguarding patient confidentiality and keeping information secure and must have received appropriate training on the legislation requirements and the current GDC Standards to ensure that:
No personal information given or received in confidence is passed on to anyone else without the patient’s prior consent. To obtain consent a patient is advised what information will be released and why and the likely consequences of the information release. The patient is given an opportunity to withhold their permission to share information, unless exceptional circumstances apply, and record is made on their notes of whether or not they gave their permission
If a patient consents to sharing information about them the team member will ensure that all recipients of the information understand that it is confidential
If a patient’s information or images are used for research or marketing the team member will advise the patient how these will be used, check that the patient understands what s/he is agreeing to, obtain and record the patient’s consent to their use and only release the minimum information for the purpose. The patient will be advised that s/he can withdraw permission at any time
If it is not necessary for a patient to be identified, they will remain anonymous in any information released
The duty to keep information confidential also covers originals and copies of a patient’s photographs, videos or audio recordings, including those made on a mobile phone. No images or recordings will be made without the patient’s permission
Patient information is kept confidential even after death
Before releasing information without the patient’s permission, an effort is always made to either convince the patient to release the information himself or herself or give the practice permission to do so, with the details of the discussion fully documented in the patient record. If obtaining consent from a patient is not practical or appropriate or if the patient will not give their permission, the team member will obtain advice from their professional indemnity organisation before releasing it.
A patient’s information will only be released without their prior permission in the following exceptional circumstances:
It is in the best interests of the public or the patient and the information released could be important in preventing or detecting a serious crime
If a team member has information that a patient could be at risk of significant harm or may be a victim of abuse, in which case the appropriate care agencies or the police will be informed
If a team member is required to disclose information by a court or a court order, in which case only the minimum amount of information necessary to comply will be released
The practice treats breaches of confidentiality very seriously. No team member shall knowingly misuse any confidential information or allow others to do so. Failure to comply with this policy may result in disciplinary action.
PATIENT SAFETY CHARTER
The practice has a safety culture which means that patient safety is at the forefront of everyone’s minds not only when delivering healthcare but also when setting objectives, developing procedures, purchasing new products and equipment. It is also a culture that is open and fair, where team members can discuss the challenges they face at work for the best interests of our patients.
For patient safety we:
Follow the latest infection prevention guidelines including those from NHS England
Use dental instruments that are single use or are sterilised after use
Decontaminate work areas including the dental chair, hand held equipment and cupboard handles, in between patients
Maintain a high standard of personal hygiene including clinical clothing and the restricted wearing of jewellery
Monitor practice water for quality. Dental unit waterlines are disinfected and kept clear
Handle waste according to current regulations and dispose of it with appropriate carriers
Take expert advice if a team member may have a blood borne infection. The team member will have an occupational health examination and follow the advice on their role in treating patients
All our team members are trained in safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults and follow the practice safeguarding procedures, which are regularly monitored and reviewed.
We run a clinical governance system which uses integrated risk management to identify, assess, analyse and manager all risks and incidents. The goal is continuous improvement in our care and service to you.
Dr Peter-Daniel Das has the overall responsibility at the practice. The team is supported through regular meetings and training. The practice always welcomes questions, comments and suggestions from patients. Please contact the practice if you have any questions or concerns.
PRIVACY NOTICE (Right to be informed)
The practice aims to meet the requirement o the Data Protection Act 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the guidelines on the Information Commissioner’s website as well as our professional guidelines and requirements.
The data controller is Dr Peter-Daniel Das, who is also the information Governance Lead.
This Privacy Notice is available by email if you contact info@smileandsmile.co.uk
You will be asked to provide personal information when joining the practice. The purpose of us processing this data is to provide optimum health care to you.
The categories of data we process are:
Personal data for the purpose of staff and self-employed team member management
Personal data for the purpose of direct mail/email/text/other marketing
Special category data including health records for the purposes of the delivery of health care
Special category data including health records and details of criminal record checks for managing employees and contracted team members
We never pass your personal details to a third party unless we have contract for them to process data on our behalf and will otherwise keep it confidential. If we intend to refer a patient to another practitioner or to secondary care such a hospital we will gain the individual’s permission before the referral is made and the personal data is shared.
Personal data is stored in the EU in digital format
Personal data is stored in the US in digital format when data storage company is certified with eat EU-US Privacy Shield
Personal data is obtained when a patient joins the practice, when a patient is referred to the practice and when a patient subscribes to an email list.
The lawful basis for processing special category data such a patients’ and employees’ health data is: Processing is necessary for the purpose of preventative or occupational medicine, for assessing the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or management of health or social care systems and services on the basis of Union or Member State law or a contract with a health professional
The lawful basis of processing personal data such as name, address, email or phone number is:
Consent of the data subject
Processing is necessary for the performance of a contact with the data subject or to take steps to enter into a contract.
The retention period for special data in patient records is a minimum of 10 years and may be longer for complex records in order to meet our legal requirements. The retention period for staff records is 6 years. The retention periods for other personal data is 2 years after it was last processed. Details of other retention periods are available in the Record Retention procedure available from the practice.
You have the following personal data rights:
The right to be informed
The right of access
The right to rectification
The right to erasure (clinical records must be retained for certain time period)
The right to restrict processing
The right to data portability
The right to object
Further details of these rights can be seen in our information Governance Procedures or at the Information Commissioner’s website www.ico.org.uk. Here are some practical examples of your rights:
If you are a patient of the practice you have the right to withdraw consent for important notifications, newsletters, surveys or marketing. You can inform us to correct errors in your personal details or withdraw consent from communication methods such as telephone, email or text. You have the right to obtain a free copy of your patient records within one month.
If you are not a patient of the practice you have the right to withdraw consent for processing personal data, to have a free copy of it within one month, to correct errors in it or to ask us to delete it. You can also withdraw consent from communication methods such as telephone, email or text.
We have carried out a Privacy Impact Assessment and you can request a copy from the details below. The details of how we ensure security of personal data is our Security Risk Assessment and Information Governance Procedures.
Comments, suggestions and complaints
Please contact Dr Peter-Daniel Das at the practice for a comment, suggestions or a complaint about your data processing at info@smileandsmile.co.uk or 0208 8316870 or by writing to or visiting the practice at 358a Richmond Road, TW1 2DU. We take complaints very seriously.
If you are unhappy with our response of if you need any advice you should contact the information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Their telephone number is 0303 123 1113. The ICO can investigagte your claim and take action against anyone who’s misuesed personal data. You can visit their website for information on how to make a data protection complaint.
Related practice procedures
You can also use these contact details to request copies of the following practice policies and procedures:
Data Protection and Information Security Policy, Consent Policy, Privacy Impact Assessment, Information Governance Procedures.
PRIVACY NOTICE FOR CHILDREN
The practice keeps records of your name, address, date of birth and details of any health problems as well as details of your dental treatment and details about your family. We keep this information so that we can provide you with the best dental care. Your personal information is kept very confidentially and securely.
We only use your personal information so we can give you the best dental care and for sending reminders to you.
We only pass your personal information to another dentist, doctor or hospital if you have a problem that needs their special skills and you need to go and see them. We will not give your information to anyone else unless the law allows us to or we hav to provide it for legal reasons.
If you leave the practice, we will stop using your information, but will keep it confidentially and securely until you are 25 years old, when we will review if and when we can delete it. You can always ask for a copy of the information we hold for you, we can transfer it to another dentist or doctor at your request and you can ask us to stop using your personal information to send letters or contact you in other ways if you are no longer a patient at the practice.
When you reach 18 years of age the Privacy Notice about how we can process your personal information will change to the adult version. This can be found on our website.
If you would like a copy of the information we holld about you or if you have any other enquiries it about such as to change an error in your information or to provide a copy of your information to somebody else please contact:
The Information Governance Lead Dr Peter-Daniel Das at
Smile & Smile - 358a Richmond Road, London, TW1 2DU
Email: info@smileandsmile.co.uk
Phone: 020 8831 6870
HOW WE LOOK AFTER AND SAFEGUARD INFORMATION ABOUT YOU - SUMMARY (M217PV2)
Protecting your information: The data controller is Dr Peter-Daniel Das. We aim to provide you with the highest quality of dental care. To do we need to keep records about you, your health and the care we have provided or plan to provide to you. We know that you value your privacy and the security of personal information held about you.
Information recorded: Information recorded about you may include: basic details, such as address, date of birth, next of kin, details and clinical records about your treatment, medical and social health, records of medicinces you have been prescribed, information relevant to your continued care from other people who care for you and know you well, such as other health professional and relatives.
Sharing information: The information held about you will not be shared for any reason, unless you ask us to do so, we ask and you give us specific permission, we are required by law e.g. prescriber’s must be notified where a patient presents a repeat prescription and the pharmacist becomes aware of clinically significant issues arising in connection with that prescription, we are permitted by law, e.g. where public interest overrides the need to keep the information confidential. Anyone who received information from us also has a legal duty to keep this information confidential, subject to recognised exceptions of the types listed above.
Your right to view your clinical records: You have the right to view the original of your clinical records free of charge. If you request a copy, a charge will be due in accordance with the Data Protection Policy. Your request must be made in writing to the practice and the payment enclosed. A copy will be provided within 28 working days.
Confidentiality: You have the right to confidentiality. We also comply with the NHS Code of Practice on Confidentiality and healthcare personnel have a requirement under their preofessional code of ethics to keep records about you confidential, secure and accurate. All of our staff contracts of employment contain a requirement to keep patient information confidential.
Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000: The FOI Act, gives the general right of access to all types of recorded information held by the practice. The intention of the the Act is to encourage a spirit of openness and transparency in the NHS and the whole public sector. Our organisation aims to fully support this. Any individual or organisation can make a request for information. The appliction does not have to explain why this information is requested.
Our Public Scheme: This pratice has develped a publication scheme. It is a guide to information, routinelhy publised and gives indication of information intended to be published. The publicatoin scheme describes the form in which the information is published and any fees that well be charged. A request can be made from information listed in this publication scheme. If you would like a copy of our publication scheme contact the Data Controller Dr Peter-Daniel Das.
Responding to Freedom of Information requests: All requests for information will be responded to within 28 days. A fee can be charged when dealing with a request. This will be calculated in accordance with the Act. If a fee is required for information requested, the 28 day timescale can be extended to up to three month. Should the request for information exceed the charges set by the Secretary of State, this practice doe not have to action the request.
Legal basis: The legal basis for processing your personal data is: “9(2)(h) -..medical diagnosis, the provision of health or socical care or treatment..” And Consent.
Policies and procedures: The practice has a number of important policies that detail how we provide care and service to our patients. Please ask the practice if you like to see copies of policies e.g. Confidentiality policy, Data Protection Policy, Information Governance Policy, Health and Safety Policy, Complaints Policy, Privacy policy, Privacy Impact Assessment, Infection Control Policy or procedures.
COOKIE POLICY
This site uses cookies – small text files that are placed on your machine to help the site provide a better user experience. In general, cookies are used to retain user preferences, store information for things like shopping carts, and provide anonymised tracking data to third party applications like Google Analytics. As a rule, cookies will make your browsing experience better.
However, you may prefer to disable cookies on this site and on others. The most effective way to do this is to disable cookies in your browser.
We suggest consulting the Help section of your browser or taking a look at the About Cookies website which offers guidance for all modern browsers.
“Cookies” are used in some areas to make our website user-friendly and to customise it to fit your needs in an optimal way. “Cookies” are small text files stored locally on the hard drive of your computer. They are there to keep available information for retrieval at a later time in order to facilitate the use of our online services. When your visit is over and you close the browser you were using cookies are deleted automatically.
Web Tracking
When using our website, we also use cookies to allow for the analysis of your use of the website (web tracking). The information generated by the cookies about your use of our website (search engines used, search terms used, languages used, visitors origins by country, browser and plugins used, the referrer, the length of stay, entry and exit pages, cancellation rates and IP address) is anonymous and used solely for statistical purposes. This information is used separately from Personal Data. The two sets of data are not merged; therefore, they are not indicative of Personal Data and one cannot generate any such conclusions therefrom.
Google Analytics
This website uses Google Analytics, a Google Inc. (“Google”) provided web analysis service. Google Analytics uses “cookies” – small text files stored on your hard drive to enable an analysis of your use of the website. Cookies-generated information concerning your use of the website is transmitted to and stored on one of Google’s servers in the US.
However, by activation of the IP anonymisation on this website your IP address will be abbreviated beforehand by Google within Member States of the European Union or other parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases is the complete IP address transmitted to a Google server in the US and abbreviated there.
On behalf of this website’s operator, Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website, compiling website activity reports and providing the website’s operator with further website and Internet related services. The abbreviated IP address transmitted in the context of Google Analytics by your browser is not associated with any other data held by Google.
You may prevent the storage of cookies by adjusting your browser’s software settings; in this case however, we must point out that you might not be able to access the full extent of all of the website’s features.
Additionally you can prevent the cookie-generated data concerning your use of the website (including your abbreviated IP address) from being transferred and processed by Google by downloading and installing the browser plugin available under the following link:https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl
Approval or Rejection of Cookies
You can approve or reject the use of cookies – also for web tracking – through the settings of your web browser. You can set your browser so that it either notifies you when cookies are being enabled or reject cookies altogether. However, when you reject cookies you cannot use all the features of our website. The following links allow you to inquire about this possibility for the most popular browsers:
Internet Explorer: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cookies/en
Firefox: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Cookies
Google Chrome: http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95647
Safari: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Safari/3.0/en/9277.html
Opera: http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/security/privacy
PATIENTS COMPLAINTS POLICY
It is the aim of this practice to “Have a Clear Effective Complaints Procedure” by meeting the GDC ‘Standards for the Dental Team’ and deliver good practice in complaint handling.
The team is trained to resolve all complaints promptly, efficiently and politely by following our Patient Complaints Procedure and Complaints Management procedures. The team responds to complaints in the time limits set by the Complaints Procedure and always provides constructive responses to complaints. The practice never discriminates against a patient who has made a complaint.
Team members cannot react defensively to a complaint but must listen carefully to a patient who makes one whilst involving them fully in the process of managing it. The team members will, to the best of their abilities, endeavour to meet any outcomes the patient expects.
If a patient is not satisfied despite our best efforts to resolve the complaint they will be informed about other avenues that are open to them such as the GDC Dental Complaints Service and the NHS Ombudsman.
The team are regularly trained in complaint handling and are involved in the regular review of complaints, complaints procedures and management through iComply so that services, policies and procedures can be continually improved.
PATIENT COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
The practice has developed a framework for managing complants and feedback baseed on theses principles:
All patients feedback is important to us
We want to make it easy for patients to raise a concern or a complain, if they need to
We follow a complaints procedure and keep patients informed
We will try to answer all patient questions and any concerns raised
We want patients to have a positive experience of making a complaint
Patients feedback helps us to improve our service.
It is our aim to always have satisfied patients, to meet your expectations of care and service and to resolve any complaints as efficiently, effectively and politely as possible. We take complaints very seriously, we investigate them in a full and fair way and take great care to protect your confidentiality. We learn from complaints to improve our care and service. We will never discriminate against patients who have made a complaint and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have about this procedure.
If you are not entirely satisfied with any aspect of our care or service please let us know as soon as possible to allow us to address your concerns promptly. We accept complaints made verbally as well as written complaints.
Dr Peter Daniel Das will be your personal contact to assist you with any complaints. We aim to resolve verbal complaints within 24 hours where possible, but if you complain in writing to Dr Peter Daniel Das he will you an acknowledgement letter as soon as practical and will aim to provide a full response in writing within 28 days.
If Dr Peter-Daniel Das is unavailable you can contact the Practice Manager of Toothbeary and brief details about the complaint will be taken and an appointment/meeting when it is suitable for you and the practice will be arranged. We will keep comprehensive and confidential records of your complaint, which will be stored securely and only be accessible only by those who need to know about your complaint.
If the complaint investigation takes longer than anticipated Dr Peter-Daniel Das will contact you at least every ten working day to keep you informed of the reason for any delays, the progress of the investigation and the proposed date it will be completed.
When the investigation has been completed, you will be informed of its outcome in writing. We will make our response clear, addressing each of your concerns as best as we can. You will also be invited to a meeting to discuss the results and any practical solutions that we can offer to you. These solutions could include replacing treatment, refunding fees paid, referring you for specialist treatments or other solutions that meet your needs and resolve the complaint.
We regularly analyse patient complaints to learn from them and to improve our services. That’s why we always welcome your feedback, comments, suggestions and complaints. If you are dissatisfied with our response to a complaint you can take the matter further, please see the contacts below.
If you are dissatisfied with our response to a complaint you can contact the GDC private dental complaints service within 12 months of the treatment or within 12 months of becoming aware of the issue. Please see the contact details below.
Contacts
GDC private dental complaints service can be contacted by calling 020 8253 0800 or visiting www.dentalcomplaints.org.uk.
You can also contact The Care Quality Commission (CQC) who regulates private and NHS dental care services in England by calling 03000 616161. They can take action against a service provider that is not meeting their standards
The General Dental Council is responsible for regulating all dental professionals. You can complain using their online form at www.gdc-uk.org contact them on information@gdc-org.uk or by calling 020 7167 6000.
The Information Commissioner: The Information Commisioner is a independent public body and reports directly to Parliament. Further information is available at www.ico.gov.uk
The Practice Quality Assurance and Governance Policy
Our quality assurance policy is to have a successful practice by providing a standard of service that consistently satisfies the need and expectations of our patients. This level of quality is achieved through use of our governance system and careful management in a continually improving, safe environment. Our standards and procedures aim to meet all professional regulations and legislation including The Fundamental Standards from the Care Quality Commission.
Our quality assurance is based on the iComply governance system; it keeps us updated with the latest legal and professional requirements.
Dr Peter Daniel Das is the practice owner and has ultimate responsibility.
Dr Peter Daniel Das has the day-to-day responsibility.
iComply prompts us to perform quality improvement through:
Carrying out risk assessments with follow up actions taken to minimise risk
Carrying out regular audits with follow up actions to improve the standards of care in:
Clinical Records
Infection Prevention and Control
Radiograph Quality and Equipment
Disability Access
Antimicrobial Prescribing
The regular review of policies, procedures and practice guidelines
Actively seeking patient feedback to improve care and service
Responding to and learning from safety alerts, events, incidents, comments and complaints
Learning, health and safety and clinical effectiveness shared at practice meetings
Performing annual reviews to see how well the practice has performed and to set new standards for the year ahead
Team training, appraisals and involvement in creating a quality-led practice
Our quality objectives are:
To continually improve the level of care and service
That patients enjoy all aspects of the experience they have with us
Total patient satisfaction
We aim to offer specialist or other treatments to a high standard
We provide minimally invasive treatments
We work to earn a great reputation so that our patients refer their friends and family to us
OUR PRACTICE IS FOLLOWING THE GDC STANDARDS
As dental professionals, we must be registered with General Dental Council and meet their standards. There are nine principles that we follow:
Put patients’ interest first
Communicate effectively with patients
Obtain valid consent
Maintain and protect patients’ information
Have a clear and effective complain procedure
Work with colleagues in a way that is in patients’ best interest
Maintain, develop and work within our professional knowledge and skills
Raise concerns if patients are at risk
Make sure our personal behaviour maintain confidence in us and the dental profession