NHS Dental treatment. Paying in advance?

Pennylane

Toothsmith wrote: »

The bottom line really is that for any business, getting your customers to pay in advance is the ideal state of affairs.

It improves your cash flow, eliminates bad debts, ensures attendance (or compensates for non-attendance) and a whole host of other advantages.

If you are in a position where you CAN ask for payment in advance, then any business that didn't would be making life unnecessarily difficult for themselves.

If paying in advance is that much of a worry to you - go elsewhere.

Mmm ... nice chairside manner!:p

Pennylane

alison999 wrote: »

Toothsmiths already said it - "What you pay to the dentist is knocked off this monthly cheque. So in effect, the patient payment is paid to the government, not the dentist, (Bit like the prescription fee on medicines) So they're keen to get it!!! Which is why it's written in the contract that it can be collected in advance of work."

Also, as Ive already said you cant CHARGE for failed/late cancelled appointments on the NHS so to get you to pay upfront means that theres less chance of you doing this which means that they're more likely to hit their UDA targets

You're avoiding the point Alison - we have always paid our bills immediately and never missed an appointment. Are you sure you're correct in what you say in your second para, because there used to be signs up in our dentists saying that people WOULD be charged for missed appointments.

Toothsmith

The signs USED to be up, because dentists USED to be able to do it. They can't now - on the NHS anyway.

Also - there is a clause in the NHS contract that says that patients can't be discriminated against for a whole list of things - one of which is ability to pay NHS charges.

Really - the point of this clause is to stop dentists only accepting patients on the NHS who are exempt from dental charges. You can't accept a patient for NHS treatment who has a low income, and insist that the person turning up at your practice in a new BMW can only be seen privately.

As is so often the case though, these little clauses have all sorts of other implications. One of which, you've found out.

With new patients, you have no idea who is creditworthy and who isn't. So you can insist they pay in advance. BUT if there are patients in your practice who aren't charged in advance - because they are longstanding patients and always pay their bills - then you are discriminating against people based on their ability to pay the fees!!

Now - it's unlikely that you would complain, but someone being discriminated against might!

It's important that everything is seen to be fair and equal when you have a whole raft of discrimination clauses written into a contract.

As for chairside manner - you're not actually in my chair.

alison999

Pennylane wrote: »

You're avoiding the point Alison - we have always paid our bills immediately and never missed an appointment. Are you sure you're correct in what you say in your second para, because there used to be signs up in our dentists saying that people WOULD be charged for missed appointments.

I am sure, in england when all the prices changed with the new contract you cannot charge for missed nhs appointments. I know my job thank you