52 - Clean sweep

A patient complained to the national regulatory body about the attitude of a dentist and his nurse. The letter referred to a previous incident and mentioned a lack of cleanliness in the surgery. The regulatory body did not pursue the matter of the dentist's attitude but carried out a full investigation of the dentist's infection control techniques. These were found to be satisfactory and subsequently the dentist was not found guilty of any misconduct. The whole episode created a considerable amount of stress.

Response to an earlier episode of dissatisfaction could have avoided the later complaint from arising.