Membership of Just Smile:

 

Your membership of Just Smile begins following a New Patient Examination.  The full cost of this appointment is taken on booking this initial appointment.  Membership is considered to be terminated 15 months after your last routine examination.

 

As a member of the practice it is your responsibility to ensure we have correct and up to date contact details for you e.g. address, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses where available.

As a member of the practice it remains your responsibility to book and attend regular routine dental examinations with your dentist at the prescribed intervals.  This is particularly important as we give priority for emergency appointments and treatment appointments to patients who have attended for routine examination appointments at the intervals prescribed by the dentists and hygienists.  To assist with this our Reception Team will normally always book your next appointment at the agreed interval before you leave the practice.

 

Our Reception Team will also attempt to contact patients in respect of routine examinations that have become overdue. Should you have failed to attend for a routine examination appointment at the prescribed interval within a 12 month period we will endeavour to contact you.  Should a period of 15 months or more have lapsed from your last visit to Just Smile an extended Returners’ Examination appointment will be scheduled for you to allow all the necessary information to be collated again.

 

Our Reception Team endeavour to assist members attendance by printing or sending e-mail and / or text message confirmations of appointment bookings, and reminders leading up to appointments. 

 

During our office opening hours our Reception Team are always on hand to confirm the details of booked appointments by telephone, e-mail and text message.

Customer behaviour:

 

At all times it remains the member’s responsibility to attend appointments at the correct time and date.  Just Smile holds no responsibility for any possible disruption of courtesy e-mail, telephone or SMS services, or failure to send Members reminders of scheduled appointments.

 

Just Smile will not tolerate violence or aggression which is defined as:

 

• actual or threatened physical assaults on staff
• psychological abuse of staff
• verbal abuse which includes shouting, swearing and gestures
• threats against practice personnel

Appointment Cancellations and late arrivals:

 

If you need to cancel your appointment please contact us giving us as much notice as possible.  We politely request at least 48 hours’ notice*.

 

Please arrive promptly for your appointments.  Patient’s arriving more than 10 minutes after their appointment time may be asked to rebook and the appointment will be treated as a missed appointment.

  

PRACTICE FEES AND PAYMENTS

 

Information on fees

 

We are committed to ensuring that patients are given sufficient information about the costs associated with their care to allow them to make informed decisions. Where changes to treatment are agreed with a patient, we ensure that any cost implications are explained.

 

An indicative price list of treatments available at the practice is displayed in the waiting room and published on the practice website.

 

Estimates and bills

 

Before any routine treatment is undertaken, the treatment options and associated costs are explained in full to the patient in a way that the patient understands. The patient is allowed time to consider the information provided and to ask questions.

 

For treatment involving more than a single item of dental treatment for which a treatment plan requires constructing Just Smile routinely requests a non refundable £100 treatment planning fee.  This treatment planning fee is treated as a deposit only against the total fee for the entire treatment plan.

 

A written estimate of the costs and, where appropriate, treatment plan are provided for all routine dental treatments. Details of any fees incurred and payments made are recorded in the patient’s clinical records and checked at each visit. Payments that remain outstanding are also recorded. Where appropriate, patients are given an itemised bill.

 

In the case of emergency dental treatment it is not always possible to provide an estimate for the treatment provided beforehand and it is to be accepted that all treatment provided is limited only to that necessary to alleviate the emergency presented.

 

A fee based on the administrational time spent is levied for on all referrals made for services outside of Just Smile.

 

Appointment Booking:

 

When booking an appointment to see our hygienists a deposit of at least £45.00 is routinely taken.      This deposit will not be returned in cases of non attendance or cancellation without 48 hours’ notice* and a further deposit of at least £45.00 will be required to secure any further hygienist appointment.

 

For treatment with our dentists we routinely take at least a 50% deposit against the total fee on all appointments of 30 minutes or longer.

 

In the case of appointments booked for treatment referred from other practices the full fee for treatment may be taken up front.

 

Charges for Late Cancellations and Missed Appointments:

 

Although it is never our wish to do so, a charge will be made for appointments that are cancelled with less than 48 hours’ notice* and for missed appointments.

 

In the case of missed appointment, or cancellation without 48 hours’ notice* Just Smile reserves the right to withhold any deposit paid.

 

Where a missed appointment has been prepaid for by virtue of membership of our Membership Scheme a charge may be made at the practice’s standard fee for any subsequent replacement appointment.

 

Persistent missed appointments or Non-Attendance.

 

If a patient fails to attend or cancels without 48 hours’ notice three times, the patient may be informed they will no longer have access to treatment at the practice.

 

Methods of Payment

 

We ask that you complete payment as laid out on your estimate before leaving at the end each appointment unless otherwise agreed with your dentist.

 

We accept cash and all major credit / debit cards with the exception of American Express.  Cheques are not accepted.

 

Patients are informed of the charge before any payment by credit/debit card is taken.

 

Patients are reminded about our payment policy when they make an appointment.

 

Whenever a payment is taken, the patient is always offered a full itemised and dated receipt.

 

If a patient offers to pay part of the full cost, the part-payment should be accepted but the patient must be advised that the amount paid is not accepted as full-and-final settlement.  The patient should be given a statement showing the original invoice amount and date, the date and amount of the part-payment, and the amount still outstanding.

 

Outstanding payments

 

A regular check of the treatments provided against the payments received is undertaken by Theresa Arnold and reminders sent to patients who have missed payments.

 

If no payment is received within seven days, a reminder will be sent inviting the patient to contact the practice regarding payment options.

 

If, following the second reminder, no payment is received, a final reminder letter will be sent and the patient advised that further failure to make a payment may result in the practice instructing a debt collection agency or taking legal proceedings.  Details of the agency will be provided to ensure that the patient knows who may contact them at a later date.

 

If, following the final reminder, no payment is received; Andrew Egan will consider how to progress the matter. Action may include the engagement of a reputable debt collection agency or formal legal action.

 

The patient will be informed that, for the purposes of collecting the debt, their details may be passed to a third party.

 

Refunds

 

There will be occurrences where we will need to refund a patients money.  Should the refund be for a removable item such as a denture, this must be returned to the practice before the refund can be given.

 

Refunds for prepayment, or a deposit, for an appointment will be returned subject to a 10% administration fee.

 

To help the benefits of dental treatment last as long as possible requires skill on the part of your dentists, great materials and the best equipment. We also need some help from you!

 

 

DENTAL TREATMENT GUARANTEE

 

All private dental treatment provided at Just Smile will be guaranteed for 1 year. The guarantee will not cover damage caused by trauma or accident. Restorations that are not the recommended treatment of the dentist cannot be guaranteed. Failure of any restoration due to poor oral hygiene, poor diet or failing to follow our preventative advice will not be covered by the guarantee.

 

Extent of Guarantee:

 

The guarantee applies to dental restorations which under normal conditions of use:

• Break
• Loosen
• Crack
• Discolour
• or fillings that fall out

In this case, we will restore, repair or change any restorations free of charge.

 

The Guarantee will be reduced or invalidated if:

 

• Oral hygiene is neglected
• Dentist instructions are not followed
• Removable restorations, such as partial dentures or full dentures are not used or maintained properly
• You do not attend the practice for dental health checks at the agreed prescribed interval
• The gum tissue has naturally reduced
• The bone supporting teeth has reduced
• Substantial amount of weight loss or weight gain within a short period of time
• A general illness is present which has adverse effects on the oral cavity(e.g. diabetes, epilepsy, osteoporosis, excessive X-rays or chemotherapy)
• Damage caused by accidents, sports or any third party
• Smoking or drug abuse occurs
• Payment obligations are not fulfilled

The Guarantee does not apply for the following:

 

• Allergies, tooth illnesses and their relative consequences after treatment which were not noticeable before treatment started
• Damage caused by extreme stress (grinding/clenching at night or during day)
• Damage due to dental restoration carried out by any another person (e.g. dentist, dental technician) who is not a team member of our practice
• Temporary fillings, dentures, crowns or bridges
• Tooth-whitening procedures
• Inappropriate selection of the colour and shape of the dental work by the patient (during the preparation period, patients are given the opportunity to choose what they want and before any dental work is fitted, patients are asked whether they are happy to go ahead with the permanent fitting, we cannot take responsibility for the decision of the patient)

Treatment that is exempt from the guarantee:

 

The dental treatment guarantee will not apply where caveats are placed upon the guarantee, either specifically by the dentist for that particular treatment, or overall due to the nature of the treatment supplied.

 

Treatment that deviates from the recommended treatment offered

 

Where a patient decides to not take up one of the recommended treatments by the dentist, then it is at the discretion of the dentist whether that treatment should be guaranteed and, if guaranteed, for how long. The dentist will note in the records that the patient has deviated from the recommended treatment offered and state what level of guarantee is to be applied for that particular treatment.

 

Treatment where the outcome cannot be reasonably controlled by the dentist

 

These treatments are those that are influenced by the patient’s overall health and lifestyle. These include periodontal treatments.

 

Root canal treatment

 

There are high risk factors for which a guarantee cannot be given. The anatomic differences and the large number of variations for each individual mean that we cannot assure everything even with the most careful of dental treatment.

 

Invalidation of the guarantee:

 

Should the patient fail to attend for the regular maintenance (routine examinations and hygienist treatment) as requested, to the extent that this lapse is three months or greater from the due date of the maintenance, then any guarantees given are voided. It is then at the discretion of the dentist whether to reinstate the guarantees, if the patient agrees to attend for regular maintenance in the future.

 

External trauma causing damage to any of the restorations placed under the guarantee will not be covered under the guarantee policy.

 

Claims under the guarantee:

 

If all the above criteria are met, and a restoration was to fail within one years, then the patient is entitled to have it repaired at no cost, providing it is the restoration itself that has failed, and not another part of the tooth.

 

Problems arising after treatment:

 

Please note, that if a recently treated tooth subsequently causes a problem (that was not seen during the diagnosis, X-ray or consultation) Just Smile does not take any responsibility for the need of additionally treatment (including root canal treatment). We will do everything to ensure the final, corrective treatment is carried out, but this shall be administered at the patient’s expense (complex root canal treatment, extraction, plan for the new prosthetic works and the preparation).

 

*for the avoidance of doubt this is defined as two clear working days

 

 

Patient 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.

 

Andrew Egan is the Complaints Manager and will be your personal contact to assist you with any complaints. .

 

You can send your complaints to Sandpiper House, Leete Way, West Winch, Kings Lynn PE33 0ST call us on 01553 849955 or email the Complaints Manager on just.smile@btconnect.com.

 

If the Complaints Manager is unavailable, we will take brief details about the complaint and will arrange for a meeting when it is suitable for you and the practice. We will keep comprehensive and confidential records of your complaint, which will be stored securely and only be accessible by those who need to know about your complaint. If the complaint investigation takes longer than anticipated, the Complaints Manager 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.

 

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.

 

We aim to resolve verbal complaints within 24 hours where possible, but if you complain in writing the Complaints Manager will will send an acknowledgement letter within 3 working days and will aim to provide a full response in writing as soon as practical.

 

 

Privacy Notice for Adults

 

The practice aims to meet the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018, the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the guidelines on the Information Commissioner’s (ICO) website as well as our professional guidelines and requirements. 

The data controller is Just Smile KL Ltd, the Information Governance Lead is Andrew Egan. 

This Privacy Notice is available on the practice website at www.justsmile.biz. 

You will be asked to provide personal information when joining the practice. The purpose of processing your personal data is to provide you with optimum dental health care and prevention. 

The categories and examples of data we process are:  

•  Personal data for the provision of dental health care 

• Personal data for the purposes of providing treatment plans, recall appointments, reminders or estimates 
• Personal data such as details of family members for the provision of health care to children or for emergency contact details 
• Personal data for the purposes of employed and self-employed team members employment and engagement respective
• Personal data for the purposes of [direct mail/email/text/other] to inform you of important announcements or about new treatments or services 
• Personal data - IP addresses so that we can understand our patients better and inform our marketing approach as well as improve the web site experience 
• Special category data including health records for the purposes of the delivery of health care and meeting our legal obligations 
• Special category data including health records 
• Special category data to meet the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 
• Special category data details of criminal record checks for employees and contracted team members 

We minimise the data that we keep, and do not keep it for longer than necessary. We never pass your personal details to a third party unless we have a 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 as a hospital, we will gain the individual’s permission before the referral is made and the personal data is shared. Your data will be shared with the NHS if you are having NHS treatment. 

 

• Personal data is stored in the [UK or EU] whether in digital or hard copy format
• 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.

For full details or where your data is stored, please ask to see Information Governance Procedures (M 217C). 

 

We have established the following lawful bases for processing your data: 

Our lawful bases for processing personal data: 

• The legitimate interests of the dental practice 
• Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with the data subject or to take steps to enter into a contract 
• Consent of the data subject  
• To comply with our legal obligations ​

Our Article 9 conditions for processing special category data: 

• Processing is necessary for health care purposes 
• Processing necessary for identifying or keeping under review the existence or absence of equality of opportunity or treatment between groups of people with the view to enabling such equality to be promoted or maintained

 The reasons we process the data include: 

• To maintain your contemporaneous clinical records 
• To provide you with dental treatment, prevention and oral health advice 
• To carry out financial transactions with you 
• To send your personal data to the General Dental Council or other authority as required by law 
• To communicate with you as and when required including appointment reminders, treatment plans, estimates and other communications about your treatment or the practice
• To communicate with your next of kin in an emergency 
• If a parent or carer to communicate with you about the person you parent or care for 
• To refer you to other dentists or doctors and health professionals as required
• To obtain criminal record disclosures for team members 
• For debt recovery 
• To continually improve the care and service you receive from us ​

The personal data we process includes: 

Your name, address, gender, date of birth, medical history, dental history, family medical history, family contact details, marital status financial details for processing payment, your doctor’s details and details of treatment at the practice. We may process more sensitive special category data including ethnicity, race, religion, or sexual orientation so that we can meet our obligations under the Equality Act 2010, or for example to modify treatment to suit your religion. 

 

The retention period for special data in patient records is a minimum of 11 years and may be longer for complex records or to meet our legal requirements. The retention period for other personal data is 2 years after it was last processed. Details of retention periods are available in the Record Retention (M 215) procedure available from the practice.

  

We obtain your personal details when you enquire about our care and service, when you join the practice, when you subscribe to our newsletter or register online, when you complete a registration or medical history form and when another practitioner refers you for treatment at our practice. Occasionally patients are referred to us from other official sources such as NHS clinics or hospitals. 

 

You have the following personal data rights: 

• The right to be informed about the collection and use of your personal data 
• The right of access – to have a copy of the data we hold about you. Generally, we will not charge for this service 
• The right to rectification  - to correct the data we have if it is inaccurate or incomplete 
• The right to deletion of your personal data (clinical records must be retained for a certain time period) 
• The right to restrict processing of your personal data 
• The right to data portability – to have your data transferred to someone else 
• The right to object to the processing of your personal data 
• Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling 

 
Further details of these rights can be seen in our Information Governance Procedures (M 217C) or at the Information Commissioner’s website. 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 in Sensitive Information Map, PIA and Risk Assessment (M 217Q) and you can request a copy from the details below. The details of how we ensure security of personal data is in our Security Risk Assessment (M 217M) and Information Governance Procedures (M 217C).  

 

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 requires 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 have 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 (or 26 years old if you were 17 when your last treatment ended), or for 11 years for a private patient after the completion of treatment, whichever is longer.

 

We will then 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 process your personal information will change to the adult version.

 

Comments, suggestions and complaint regarding privacy

 

Please contact the IG Lead at the practice for a comment, suggestion or a complaint about your data processing at just.smile@btconnect.com or 01553 849955 or by writing to or visiting the practice at Sandpiper House, Leete Way, West Winch, Kings Lynn PE33 0ST. 

 

We take complaints very seriously.  If you are unhappy with our response or if you need any advice you should contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Their telephone number is 0303 123 1113, you can also chat online with an advisor. The ICO can investigate your claim and take action against anyone who’s misused personal data. You can also 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 or procedures: 

• Data Protection and Information Security Policy (M 233-DPT), Consent Policy (M 233-CNS) 
• Sensitive Information Map, PIA and Risk Assessment (M 217Q), Information Governance Procedures (M 217C), Record Retention (M 215)  

If you would like a copy of the information we hold about you or if you have any other enquiries such as correcting an error in your information or providing a copy of your information to somebody else please contact:

 

The Information Governance Lead, Andrew Egan: 
Just Smile, Sandipier House, Leete Way, West Winch, Kings Lynn Norfolk PE33 0ST, 
, 
Email:  just.smile@btconnect.com
Phone:  01553 849955.