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In January 2018, after 12 years of building up our place in the community of Fulham, we refreshed Karma with a brand new look! Our new identity goes a lot deeper than a lick of paint and a new logo. We are proud to be established in this close-nit community, and much of our effort will be spent supporting local enterprises, residents and initiatives to further maintain and build upon what we have.
In the last few months we have launched our own community loyalty programme which supports the ‘shop local’ philosophy. Each patient who joins our patient plan membership saves 10% on all of on their private dental treatment plus many other ‘in-house’ benefits. With our new local partnerships, they also receives discounts on independent retailers nearby our practice including: Thaiphoon Restaurant, Bon Bon Cafe & Deli, Strudwick Flowers and many more. It means that the £19 monthly membership is saving our patients money even outside of our practice, while keeping their spend locally, and our community thriving.
You can read more about the Karma Kommunity and our Karma Kard here!
Fulham Broadway & Parson’s Green Underground or Wandsworth Town Train Station
Buses to/from our doorstep: 28 & 295
Karma Dental Practice NHS Policy for Failure to Attend an Appointment or Short Notice Cancellations
We do not charge for missed or late cancelled NHS appointments.
However, if you fail to attend or late cancel (within 24hrs of the appointment) two appointments within a twelve month period we will no longer be able to offer you further NHS treatment at this clinic.
This is in line with the Local Health Board ‘two strikes and you are out’ policy.
Please give at least 24 hours notice for any cancellations. If you turn up late ie after your scheduled appointment this will be classed as a failed to attend. This also applies to children’s appointments.
We have a long waiting list of people wanting NHS dental treatment and receive on average 10 to 15 enquiries every working day from people looking for an NHS dentist. This has increased due to the lockdown period. Failure to attend appointments cost the NHS a significant amount of money, and deprive people who need NHS dental treatment and are currently on a waiting list to be seen.
Complaints Procedure
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, investigating 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. If you do not feel you can raise a complaint about your NHS service directly with us, you can address your complaint directly to NHS England at england.contactus@nhs.net with ‘For the attention of the complaints team’ in the subject line.
Kimberley Lewis is the Complaints Manager and 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, the Complaints Manager will send an acknowledgement letter within 3 working days and will aim to provide a full response in writing as soon as practical.
You can send your complaints to 144 Wandsworth Bridge Road, Fulham, London, SW6 2UH, call us on 020 7736 0876 or email the Complaints Manager on info@karmadentalcare.co.uk.
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.
If you are still unhappy about your NHS complaint, you can contact the Parliamentary Health Ombudsman (England): by calling 0345 015 4033 or visiting www.ombudsman.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 who may be able to help.
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.
