Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board

4. Mr K complains the ICB lost his Independent Funding Request (IFR) application made in February 2022 for NHS dental funding to support the root canal work he needed.

5. Mr K says the ICB:

• lost his IFR application and only became aware it was lost when he had chased progress on several occasions • took an unreasonable length of time to look at his application • refused to advise what was happening with his application.

6. Mr K says he waited for over two years for his application to be considered whilst unaware the application had been lost whilst he was still in pain. He says his root canal surgery was held up directly because of the errors and delays made and he suffered from pain as the infection from the untreated root canal had built up. Mr K said due to the long waiting time, he paid for private treatment to relieve his pain.

7. By bringing this complaint to us, Mr K would like the ICB to:

• acknowledge the procedural and administrative errors it made in losing his IFR application form and the amount of time it took to reach a decision • provide a financial remedy.

8. Mr K attended his dental practice on 6 January 2022 where he raised concerns about the pain he was suffering from. Mr K’s dentist referred him to the ICB upon his request via an application for NHS dental funding for root canal surgery.

9. On 11 November 2022, Mr K had not heard back from the ICB on the progress of his application. After chasing the ICB and having no success in getting any update on the progress, he raised a formal complaint with the ICB on 14 July 2023.

10. On 26 March 2024, the ICB confirmed the application for funding had been refused. The ICB provided a letter to Mr K on 2 May 2024 apologising for the administrative errors that occurred and apologised for the delays and experience Mr K had.

11. Mr K decided to contact our office with his concerns on 24 April 2024 and completed his complaint form on 22 May 2024. He told us he was frustrated and upset with the service he received from the ICB and wanted a financial remedy to cover the costs he paid for private treatment.

13. Under our procedures we can look to resolve a complaint with an organisation without carrying out a detailed investigation where we can achieve a satisfactory outcome which addresses the primary concerns raised. Having discussed this complaint with the ICB, it has agreed to provide a financial remedy which Mr K confirms resolves his complaint.

14. Mr K says he feels frustrated and upset that the ICB lost his funding application and took an unreasonable amount of time to reach a decision on his application. As a result of this, Mr K sought private treatment to resolve his dental issues. We appreciate Mr K waited over two years for an outcome to his funding application and sought private funding because of the time it took for a decision to be made and the delays he experienced.

15. By bringing this complaint to us, Mr K says he would like to receive a financial remedy to put his complaint right.

16. In Mr K’s case, the ICB acknowledged its error in losing his funding application and apologised for the large delays in reaching a decision. In total, the evidence indicates that Mr K waited for over two years to receive a decision on his funding application and due to the amount of time it took, he sought private dental treatment to resolve the pain he was suffering.

17. We consider this is a significant amount of time for Mr K to have to wait for the outcome of the funding application. We recognise this will have caused Mr K significant frustration, inconvenience and upset whilst he was in pain.

18. We asked the ICB if it would pay Mr K a financial remedy in respect of the impact the delay had. On 22 October 2024, the ICB agreed it will o pay him £650 to address the poor experience he had. We spoke to the Customer Services Manager at the ICB on the telephone on 22 October 2024 who verbally apologised for the experience Mr Readon had.

19. Mr K confirmed that the agreed financial remedy was appropriate action in resolving his complaint.

20. Our ‘NHS Complaint Standards’ (2020) says organisations should ‘welcome complaints in a positive way’ and give ‘fair and accountable responses’ when things go wrong. In this complaint, we are satisfied the ICB has been open and honest, has acknowledged the mistakes made and apologised for its errors and the experience Mr K had.

21. The ICB has also acted fairly and agreed to pay Mr K a financial remedy of £650 to recognise the impact the delay had on Mr K. Mr K agreed this was a reasonable remedy to put things right. On this basis, we are satisfied the ICB has taken appropriate action to resolve his complaint.

22. We are grateful for the time and effort both parties have taken to speak to us about this complaint. We are pleased to see this matter has been resolved and we would like to wish Mr K the best for the future.

1. We have carefully considered Mr K’s complaint about Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (the ICB).

2. We are sorry to hear the ICB lost Mr K’s application for NHS dental funding which significantly delayed the dental treatment he required. We appreciate this experience caused Mr K frustration and upset. We are sorry to hear he went through this challenging time.

3. The ICB has acknowledged the administrative errors it made in losing Mr K’s funding application and has apologised for the long delays Mr K experienced. The ICB has offered to pay £650 to put this right. Mr K has accepted this offer to resolve his complaint, so we have decided not to take any further action.