NHS Dentist

richardw

Is it likely that the condition could get so painful that he won't be able to sleep and work? What will you do then?

Red_Doe

Can he be referred to a hospital dental clinic by your Gp?
This is what happened to me. No dentist near me, no public or private transport (I'm VERY rural ) and I have three cracked molars, one of them abcessed. Because there's no dentist here the doc referred me to the dental clinic section of Raigmore hospital at Inverness (about a hundred and twenty miles away) which isn't ideal but at least I'll be seen.

thegirlintheattic

richardw wrote: »

Is it likely that the condition could get so painful that he won't be able to sleep and work? What will you do then?

As said above. If we cannot find a NHS solution we will take out a short term loan and go private. Luckily he is on strong painkillers so can last a day or so till we get something sorted. Just looking at all the options so we don't end up in serious problems cash wise.

Toothsmith: Thanks, it is something I'm looking into. I've been able to get some quotes over the phone (not exact because they obviously don't know what's wrong) and the lowest is about £150 ish. The monthly plan seems like a good idea, this is the first experience I've had with a private dentist as I've always been treated on the NHS at a dentist where I used to live.

thegirlintheattic

Red_Doe wrote: »

Can he be referred to a hospital dental clinic by your Gp?
This is what happened to me. No dentist near me, no public or private transport (I'm VERY rural ) and I have three cracked molars, one of them abcessed. Because there's no dentist here the doc referred me to the dental clinic section of Raigmore hospital at Inverness (about a hundred and twenty miles away) which isn't ideal but at least I'll be seen.

I'll call the surgery and see what they say. Unfortunately if it's a case of lots of travel it would probably be cheaper getting private treatment. Thanks for the idea though.

DS4215

Have you tried NHS Direct? - they usually have a list of the NHS dentists accepting patients and the local dental emergency places...

Jo.1981

Have you tried explaining the situation to the employer? If it's a one off they might be willing to make an exception.

LondonDiva

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

There is an NHS dentist in the next village but the receptionist said that he is not registering new patients.

Call your PALS team at your pct (look up at https://www.nhs.uk).

If the dentist has an NHS contract, unless they have an extremely small contract, given the new financial year started in April, I'd be extremely surprised if they were out of activity units by now.

When the receptionist told you they were not taking new patients, did she (as the practice is leagallky obligated to do) tell you what the length of the waiting list is and where / when you would factor in if you went on the list.

Take dentists (before about Jan / Feb) saying they are not accepting, as a lot of them use the current system to pick and choose.

first point of contact is the PALS team for a list of dentists and also for them to confirm that your nearest practice has formally notified them that they are now operating a waiting list and cannot accept new patients. If not, the PCT (or NHS xxx) will need to have words.

Also bear in mind that unlike GPs, you can see any NHS dentist you like - so if there's no luck near your home, get your OH to look near his work.

Remember the best way to find a dentist is to go with a personal reccomendation from a friend.
Good luck.

thegirlintheattic

DS4 - I got my first list of people to call from NHS Direct. They show the nearest one accepting patients as the one 1.5 hrs away.

Jo - Yes, my partner spoke to boss as soon as I found out the situation this morning. Unfortunately no chance due to workload, probably doesn't help that he's only recently had a week's holiday.

London Diva: Thanks! Will call them up! The receptionist just said that they are no longer registering NHS patients and started explaining how I could book and appointment and pay privately. The NHS Choices site lists the dentist as not accepting NHS registrations so I think it's above board but will check with the PCT.

Due to it being a pretty rural area the dentists near home are the same as near his work. The few people we know in the village all use the dentist that is no longer accepting patients *facepalm*, although he is highly recommended so if we go the private route we will use him.

seven-day-weekend

I only pay £47.70 a month for Denplan cover for three of us, it certainly works out a lot cheaper than just 'pay-as-you-go' charges, and would certainly be less for just one person.

Maybe it might be possible to ask for quotes for this from your nearest dentist?


http://www.denplan.co.uk/patients.aspx?sitelink=2&gclid=CMqj_IWk46oCFUMf4QodXH1T8g

brook2jack

Londondiva is wrong. There is no legal obligation to have a waiting list or to accept nhs patients. If a surgery is at capacity then unless a pct has a policy of managing appointments and waiting lists and have a clause in the dentists contracts saying so then it is perfectly acceptable legally for a surgery to say it has no more capacity. Indeed if you search on websites many surgeries will have on the NHS website they cannot take on new NHS patients.

Indeed the pcts state dentists have to manage their udas so they do not run out of them on their contract so are quite entitled to not take on any new patients. Pcts cannot force a dentist to see anyone let alone a doubtless overrun and overworked dentist in a rural area who is doubtless struggling with the patients they already have.

However pcts have a legal obligation to provide relief for people with dental emergencies. Often these clinics will be at weekends or evenings but will provide emergency treatment only. Nhs direct normally will give details/ book appointments. Then you can look at getting your husband regular care.