From left to right, Gordon Miles, Director, Meredyth Bell, Council Member GDC, Mark Tempest, Complaints Support Officer, James Paddick, Complaints Manager

The General Dental Council (GDC) is looking for volunteers from the dental profession to help resolve complaints from patients about private dental work.

The new Dental Complaints Service, is being set up and will be funded by the GDC.

A dental care professional will sit with lay volunteers on regional complaints panels and hear complaints that cannot otherwise be resolved.

All kinds of dental care professionals are being invited to volunteer to sit on the panels. Gordon Miles, director, explained, “First, we'll encourage dissatisfied patients to complain directly through a dental practice's own complaints scheme. Then our advisers will try to sort out complaints informally with the patient and dental professional concerned. Only if they cannot resolve a complaint will it go to a panel. The aim is to resolve complaints informally – as fairly, efficiently, transparently and quickly as we can. This is an opportunity for dental care professionals to play a role in resolving fellow professionals' disputes, and use their knowledge within a wider forum.”

Currently, there is an NHS dental complaints scheme, but private patients – including those who receive treatment from a dental hygienist privately – have limited options. The new service will help resolve complaints that are not about patient safety issues.

A complaint that raises patient safety issues will be referred to the GDC, which will be able to deal with the complaint under its formal conduct procedures, as is the case now.

The Dental Complaints Service is due to be launched next year. To find out more about volunteering to join a complaints panel, call 08456 120 540 or visit the Council's website at www.gdc-uk.org.