# Patient complaint checklist for a dental practice: from receipt to the final response > 24 steps for one patient complaint, from the front desk to the final response and the log: who does what, the time limits and the rule behind each step. - Page to cite: https://aeolookup.com/clinics/patient-complaint-checklist-dental-practice-receipt-to-final-response/ - Publisher: AEO Lookup (https://aeolookup.com/) - Section: Dental, physio and aesthetics clinics, Patients, plans and complaints - Published 1 October 2026 - Key fact: We wrote this list of 24 steps in 5 stages from the rules set out in 6 of our guides and the official pages each step names. Law and the GDC's standards put four time limits on the practice in these 24 steps: three working days to acknowledge, updates at least every 10 days, one month for a records request, and six months before an NHS practice must explain a missing response. None fixes the date of the full response, which the practice sets itself. - Sources: NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 13(1), read 1 October 2026; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.2.1, read 1 October 2026; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 13(3); GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.1.7, read 1 October 2026; CQC Regulation 16; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, principle 4; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 13(3); GDC Standards 5.1.4, read 1 October 2026; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.3.1, read 1 October 2026; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.3.4, read 1 October 2026; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 13(7), read 1 October 2026; Dental Complaints Service guidance for dental professionals; ICO guidance on the right of access; Our complaints procedure guide; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, principle 5; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.3.5 and 5.3.6, read 1 October 2026; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 14(3) and (4), read 1 October 2026; ICO guidance on data protection impact assessments; GDC Standards 5.3.10; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 14(2), read 1 October 2026; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 14(2); GDC Standards 5.3.7, read 1 October 2026; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 14(2)(d), read 1 October 2026; Dental Complaints Service; GDC Standards 5.3.11; Dental Complaints Service guidance; CQC Regulation 16; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.1.6, read 1 October 2026; CQC Regulation 16; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009; each step names its source, and the linked guide shows the working. A complaint goes wrong at a practice in two places: the first three days, when it sits with whoever took it, and the date promised for the response, when it passes with no word to the patient. This list follows one complaint from the moment it arrives to the entry in the log. It is written for the practice manager and the front desk of a dental practice in England, NHS, private or mixed. Steps that apply only to NHS or only to private patients say so. Start a new list for each complaint, and tick each step as it is done. Every step is administrative: what the response says about the treatment itself is for a GDC registrant. **Free tool on the page:** Patient complaint checklist. It runs in the browser at https://aeolookup.com/clinics/patient-complaint-checklist-dental-practice-receipt-to-final-response/#tool and asks for no sign-up. ## The day the complaint arrives **Treat it as a complaint however it arrives: in person, by phone, letter, email or online review.** The NHS complaints regulations let a patient complain orally, in writing or electronically, and a complaint posted as a review is still a complaint. A practice that waits for a letter has already lost days from the acknowledgement window. Source: NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 13(1), read 1 October 2026. The working is in [The dental complaints procedure that meets the GDC and the NHS regulations](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/dental-complaints-procedure-three-working-days-gdc/). **Listen, note what was said and the outcome the patient wants, and do not argue the point at the desk.** The GDC says not to react defensively to a complaint and to find out what outcome the patient wants. The front desk records and passes on; it does not explain or defend the treatment. Source: GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.2.1, read 1 October 2026. The working is in [The dental complaints procedure that meets the GDC and the NHS regulations](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/dental-complaints-procedure-three-working-days-gdc/). **Tell the patient who will be in touch, and pass the complaint to the practice manager the same day.** The three working days for the acknowledgement run from the day the practice received the complaint, not the day the manager heard of it. A complaint handed over two days late has used most of that window. Source: NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 13(3). The working is in [The dental complaints procedure that meets the GDC and the NHS regulations](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/dental-complaints-procedure-three-working-days-gdc/). **Enter it in the complaints log with the date received, kept apart from the patient's record.** The GDC asks for a written record of every complaint and response, kept separate from patient records so that nobody is put off complaining. CQC Regulation 16 requires a system for recording complaints, and inspectors ask to see the log. Source: GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.1.7, read 1 October 2026; CQC Regulation 16. The working is in [CQC dental inspection in 2026](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/cqc-dental-inspection-front-desk-evidence-2026/). **Complaint posted as a public review: reply once without confirming the reviewer is a patient.** Confirming that a reviewer attended, or mentioning the date, the treatment or the bill, discloses health information even when no name is used. The reply answers in the reviewer's own terms and moves the detail into the complaints procedure. Source: GDC Standards for the Dental Team, principle 4. The working is in [Dental practice review reply writer](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/dental-review-reply-writer-confidentiality/). ## Within three working days: the acknowledgement **Acknowledge the complaint within three working days of the day it was received.** For NHS treatment the regulations fix the acknowledgement at no later than three working days after the day of receipt. The GDC asks a private practice to set similar standards and time limits to the NHS procedure, so one timescale serves both. Source: NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 13(3); GDC Standards 5.1.4, read 1 October 2026. The working is in [The dental complaints procedure that meets the GDC and the NHS regulations](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/dental-complaints-procedure-three-working-days-gdc/). **Send a copy of the complaints procedure with the acknowledgement.** GDC standard 5.3.1 says to give the patient a copy of the procedure when you acknowledge the complaint, so that they understand the stages involved and the timescales. Source: GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.3.1, read 1 October 2026. The working is in [The dental complaints procedure that meets the GDC and the NHS regulations](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/dental-complaints-procedure-three-working-days-gdc/). **Put a specific date for the full response in the acknowledgement.** The GDC sets no number of days for the response. It requires a response within the time limits in the practice's own procedure, so the date the practice writes down is the date it is held to. Source: GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.3.4, read 1 October 2026. The working is in [The dental complaints procedure that meets the GDC and the NHS regulations](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/dental-complaints-procedure-three-working-days-gdc/). **NHS complaint: offer to discuss how it will be handled and when the response is likely to be sent.** When it acknowledges an NHS complaint the practice must offer to discuss, at a time agreed with the patient, how the complaint will be handled and the period in which the investigation and the response are likely to be completed. Source: NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 13(7), read 1 October 2026. **Tell the clinician involved that a complaint is open; private complaint: tell the indemnifier as well.** The Dental Complaints Service advises telling the indemnifier when a complaint first arrives. Its guide for practices suggests an acknowledgement ideally within two working days and, as a general guide, a full response within 10 working days. Source: Dental Complaints Service guidance for dental professionals. The working is in [What happens if a private patient goes to the Dental Complaints Service](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/what-happens-private-patient-dental-complaints-service-12-months/). ## While the complaint is open **Patient asks for a copy of their records: log it as a separate request with its own one-month deadline.** A request for a copy is a subject access request, due within one month and free in most cases. It runs at the same time as the complaint's three working days, and the two dates are tracked separately. Source: ICO guidance on the right of access. The working is in [How long to keep dental patient records](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/dental-records-retention-11-years-deletion-request-reply/). **Have a GDC registrant write or approve anything in the response about the treatment itself.** The practice manager owns the procedure and sends the response, but the part about the care given is not for a manager or a receptionist to write. Our procedure gives that part to a registrant every time. Source: Our complaints procedure guide; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, principle 5. The working is in [The dental complaints procedure that meets the GDC and the NHS regulations](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/dental-complaints-procedure-three-working-days-gdc/). **If the response date will be missed, tell the patient before it passes and give a new date.** GDC standard 5.3.5 says to tell the patient when you will respond if you need more time, and 5.3.6 asks for updates at least every 10 days when a complaint cannot be resolved in the usual timescale. A promised date that passes in silence is the failure regulators look for. Source: GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.3.5 and 5.3.6, read 1 October 2026. The working is in [The dental complaints procedure that meets the GDC and the NHS regulations](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/dental-complaints-procedure-three-working-days-gdc/). **NHS complaint with no response after six months: write to the patient explaining why.** If no response has been sent within six months of the day the complaint was received, or a longer period agreed with the patient, the regulations require written notice with the reason, and the response as soon as reasonably practicable afterwards. Source: NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 14(3) and (4), read 1 October 2026. **If software drafts any of the letters, have a named person read and approve each one before it is sent.** A tool that handles patient information should draft for review and send nothing to a patient unaided. The practice stays the data controller, and a tool that reads records needs a data protection impact assessment before it starts. Source: ICO guidance on data protection impact assessments. The working is in [AI and patient data in a dental practice](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/ai-patient-data-dental-practice-gdpr-dpia/). ## The final response **Send the full response in writing by the date you gave.** The GDC asks for a written response that sets out your findings and any practical solutions, clear enough for the patient to follow. For an NHS complaint the regulations require a written response signed by the responsible person. Source: GDC Standards 5.3.10; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 14(2), read 1 October 2026. The working is in [The dental complaints procedure that meets the GDC and the NHS regulations](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/dental-complaints-procedure-three-working-days-gdc/). **Cover how the complaint was considered, the conclusions and what has been changed, point by point.** The NHS regulations list what the response must include: how the complaint was considered, the conclusions reached, and whether any action needed has been taken or is proposed. The GDC adds that you should try to deal with every point raised. Source: NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 14(2); GDC Standards 5.3.7, read 1 October 2026. The working is in [The dental complaints procedure that meets the GDC and the NHS regulations](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/dental-complaints-procedure-three-working-days-gdc/). **NHS patient: include the right to go to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.** The regulations require the response to give details of the patient's right to take the complaint to the Health Service Commissioner, the body now known as the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Source: NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 14(2)(d), read 1 October 2026. The working is in [The dental complaints procedure that meets the GDC and the NHS regulations](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/dental-complaints-procedure-three-working-days-gdc/). **Private patient: include the Dental Complaints Service paragraph and its 12-month limit.** The Dental Complaints Service looks at private complaints raised with it within 12 months of the treatment, or of the patient becoming aware of the problem, counted for each treatment. It is free and does not deal with NHS treatment. Source: Dental Complaints Service; GDC Standards 5.3.11. The working is in [What happens if a private patient goes to the Dental Complaints Service](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/what-happens-private-patient-dental-complaints-service-12-months/). **Put any refund or other offer in writing, and do what was agreed by the date agreed.** Whether to offer anything is for the dentist and the indemnifier. As a guide to scale, the Dental Complaints Service says a contribution towards remedial treatment cannot exceed the cost of the initial treatment. Source: Dental Complaints Service guidance. The working is in [What happens if a private patient goes to the Dental Complaints Service](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/what-happens-private-patient-dental-complaints-service-12-months/). ## After the response **Record the response date, the outcome and what changed in the complaints log.** Inspectors ask for every complaint with the dates it was received, acknowledged and responded to, the outcome and what changed. An entry with no response date reads as a complaint left open. Source: CQC Regulation 16. The working is in [CQC dental inspection in 2026](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/cqc-dental-inspection-front-desk-evidence-2026/). **Take the complaint to the next practice meeting and note who reviewed it and what followed.** The GDC says to analyse complaints and share the lessons with the whole team. An inspector asks for the log and then asks what the practice did with it, so each entry wants a line: reviewed on, by, and what followed. Source: GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.1.6, read 1 October 2026; CQC Regulation 16. The working is in [CQC dental inspection in 2026](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/cqc-dental-inspection-front-desk-evidence-2026/). **NHS complaint: count it in the annual complaints report.** The NHS regulations require the practice to keep a record of complaints and to report on them each year. A log kept up to date through the year is most of that report already written. Source: NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009. The working is in [The dental complaints procedure that meets the GDC and the NHS regulations](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/dental-complaints-procedure-three-working-days-gdc/). **If the Dental Complaints Service makes contact: pull the log entry and its three dates before replying.** The service sends a patient back to the practice first and steps in only when the two cannot agree. The log entry with the dates of the complaint, the acknowledgement and the response is the first thing to have in front of you. Source: Dental Complaints Service guidance. The working is in [What happens if a private patient goes to the Dental Complaints Service](https://aeolookup.com/clinics/what-happens-private-patient-dental-complaints-service-12-months/). ## How to use the list Keep the finished list with the complaint's entry in the log, dated. If a step does not apply, such as the ombudsman paragraph for a private patient, tick it and move on; what matters is that somebody decided. At the next practice meeting the list shows what was done and when. If the patient goes on to the ombudsman or the Dental Complaints Service, it gives the dates you will be asked for first. A ticked list is a record that the steps were done, not proof that each was done properly. The list covers the points our guides and the official pages named above set out; it is not every duty a firm has. A GDC-registered professional or the practice manager reviews anything a tool drafts before it reaches a patient, and this page is general information, not clinical or legal advice. Overlyft ![](https://aeolookup.com/img/d/ours-badge.png) sets up AI assistants for dental, physio and aesthetics clinics: they prepare drafts for a person to approve. They do not tick off any of these steps for you, and you can do every one without them. --- ![](https://aeolookup.com/img/d/owner-line.png) General information for UK small firms, not legal, tax or financial advice.