8. Miss L says that she visited the Practice between 2 May and 4 July 2024, for it to replace her denture. She says it did not fit the denture correctly and the Practice did not offer aftercare to remedy the issue, meaning she had to fix the denture herself.
9. She says the Practice made a referral to special care dentistry and it labelled her as having learning difficulties. This was after she told the Practice she was waiting for the NHS to assess her for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Miss L says she understands that the NHS does class autism and ADHD as learning difficulties but said the Practice should not have used it on the referral as she had not received an official diagnosis yet.
10. In her complaint Miss L says that she wanted a refund from the Practice for her NHS treatment. Miss L says she suffered with pain from her denture, and she felt personally judged by the Practice after it labelled her as having learning disabilities. We recognise this was a distressing time for Miss L.
11. Our Principles for Remedy say where maladministration or poor service has led to injustice or hardship, public bodies should try to offer a resolution that returns the complainant to the position they would have been in otherwise. If that is not possible, the resolution should compensate them appropriately.
12. Where there is an indication of a failing, in line with our Principles for Remedy we would expect the Practice to acknowledge these failings and take steps to fix the impact such as providing an apology, and where appropriate to give a financial remedy.
13. We discussed the complaint with the Practice. It recognises that Miss L is extremely unhappy with the treatment she received and that it has caused her distress. To remedy the complaint, it has agreed to refund the cost she paid for her NHS treatment of £319.10. It said it will add an additional £30.90 to this amount as a gesture of goodwill (total of £350). It also said it will provide an apology to Miss L for the distress she experienced.
14. NHS Complaint Standards say 'wherever possible, staff explain why things went wrong and identify suitable ways to put things right for people’. We think the remedy above is enough and resolves the complaint. Miss L believes she should be entitled to a higher amount, but she accepts our decision.
15. Our Severity of Injustice Scale describes level two injustices as those that will typically arise when what has gone wrong has had a relatively low impact on the person affected. This will often result in a degree of distress, inconvenience or pain. We think that the level of distress and pain Miss L has suffered fits that description. The Practice’s offer of £350 is at level two of our scale. We are satisfied this addresses the impact caused to Miss L and we think this is enough to resolve her complaint.
16. We think the Practice has now taken steps to resolve this complaint for Miss L. We have discussed this with her, and although she believes the Practice should pay her more, she is satisfied this has resolved her complaint.