Patient care Hero
ou can either become a hero or a villain – it all depends on how you deal with patient
complaints. I would like to share an experience that happened to me last year with a hotel in Dublin which illustrates what happens if you don’t address the issue properly. I was running one of my
two-day courses at a well- known brand hotel. Because I was travelling by plane, I shipped all my manuals and books and they left England in two boxes. I contacted the hotel a few days later and, to my surprise, they informed me that they had only received one of the boxes. I waited a few days and rang the hotel again, only to receive the same response. I could not believe it. As the
programme was only a few days away, and because I had run out of my own books, I could not give the delegates a copy of my book. As this was my first programme in Ireland, this was not the impression I wanted to make. After the programme, I came back
to England and sent a book to each delegate with an apology. I decided to make a claim for the loss of my books, which totalled £350. I also asked the Post Office to investigate and could not believe their report. They confirmed that, in fact, both
boxes had arrived. I was furious. I contacted the hotel to inform
them and I also shared with them the name of the person who signed for my boxes. After they conducted their own investigation, they found the other box and, as I expected, the
30 Scottish Dental magazine
or villain? Y
When faced with a patient complaint, go above and beyond to make amends and you’ll reap the benefits in the longer term, advises Ashley Latter
my first programme in Ireland, I could not give the delegates all the appropriate supplies. All the hotel was offering me was
a small discount on future bookings. I told the hotel representative the problems she had caused me and the expense and time
of having to send the books individu- ally to each delegate after the course. I asked
her if she were me, would
she hold another course at the hotel? To be honest, I was surprised by
her lack of empathy. It was obvious she did not see things from my point of view. I felt she was trying to fob me off. After a few heated words and discussions, she finally knocked a considerable amount off the bill and a 50 per cent discount off any future booking with the hotel. Are complaints good for your
hotel representative apologised and said she would send the boxes back. She then went on to say that
she would give me a 15 per cent discount on further bookings at the hotel. I could not believe what she said. Here is a hotel who lost one of my boxes, denied they had in fact received it with the result that, on
practice? I personally don’t mind the odd complaint in my business, as long as we don’t get many. The reason why I like complaints is that it gives you the opportunity to become a hero. If you go above the call of duty in dealing with a complaint, you can actually recruit raving fans for your business/ practice. They also give you an opportunity to learn from it and change things within your practice. When you deal with a customer
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