Dentist and NHS treatment.

littlemissy29

Hi all. Recently moved area. Needed to visit to a dentist- loose filling and also a general checkup.
Looked online and found the closest one that offered NHS treatment. I popped in during my lunch break on Friday.

No problem- we can see you later this afternoon said the chirpy receptionist- I mentioned I'd like NHS treatment - and suddenly the chirpiness disappeared. Earliest available appointment suddenly was not for 3 weeks!

Is this the norm? Should I have expected different? The work would most likely have been done by the 'previously available' dentist that afternoon.

Anyway called my old dentist and paying a visit tomorrow-despite a bit of a drive.

Thanks

LM29

JReacher1

They only have a certain number of NHS appointments. It's the same with the doctor. If you want to see a specialist it's days for private and months for NHS. Even though its the same guy!

ap1986

I recently registered for NHS Dental Services in my area and when I was calling round the local practices, I was also told 2-3 week waiting times for a 'check up' appointment.

When I picked one and went down and registered, it turned out I only had to wait a week for the appointment. I know this probably isn't much help, sorry.

Might be worth registering with one local to you in the next few days and getting your first check up appt. booked in so if you ever have problems again, you'd get straight in... I assume the 3 week wait would've been because you were a new NHS patient and not just a new patient?!

mrsjanebanbury2009

My DS was referred by dentist to an orthodontist.
The orthodontist only does NHS appointments during school hours. If you want to make an appointment outside school hours you have to pay for private treatment. Despicable.

jacques_chirac

mrsjanebanbury2009 wrote: »

My DS was referred by dentist to an orthodontist.
The orthodontist only does NHS appointments during school hours. If you want to make an appointment outside school hours you have to pay for private treatment. Despicable.

It is not despicable, it is good business sense. The dentist has a contract to supply services to the NHS, he also chooses to offer services to private clients. He will allocate his time where he can optimise his income. This may seem a crude way of doing things, but given a choice of two jobs, all other things being equal, wouldn't we all choose the higher salary?

mrsjanebanbury2009

But I have no choice; I'm not allowed to take my DS out of school for non-emergency dental or health appointments, so I'm being taken advantage of.

jacques_chirac

mrsjanebanbury2009 wrote: »

But I have no choice; I'm not allowed to take my DS out of school for non-emergency dental or health appointments, so I'm being taken advantage of.

You could ask to be referred elsewhere, or you could explain to the school that it is not possible to get an appt outside school hours, they cannot penalise you for that.

As for 'being taken advantage of', you could apply that to any situation that applies a premium for peak time services - trains, cinemas etc. Again, not despicable, just supply and demand.

ERICS_MUM

running a dental surgery costs a tremendous amount and I hardly expect that payment for NHS appointments will cover those costs/salaries. To some extent the NHS is subsidised by the dentist's private practice.

McKneff

You cant just walk into a dentist and expect treatment on the NHS.

They have to accept you ont their list. Only then you get an appointment for the dentist to examine your teeth.

Then if there is work to do, normally another appointment is made to have this work done.

If you want to have treatment now or its an emergency then you either have to go to an emergency dentist on the NHS and pay or go see a private dentist.

JReacher1

mrsjanebanbury2009 wrote: »

But I have no choice; I'm not allowed to take my DS out of school for non-emergency dental or health appointments, so I'm being taken advantage of.

Tell the school it's an emergency or choose a day they can miss (no important lessons) and just say he was off sick that day.

dinglebert

ERICS_MUM wrote: »

running a dental surgery costs a tremendous amount and I hardly expect that payment for NHS appointments will cover those costs/salaries. To some extent the NHS is subsidised by the dentist's private practice.

Sorry but thats just wrong. Our dentist practice is NHS only and they are definitely not short of money. Below is the pay for NHS dentists in England. This is from 2009 so its under what they will earn now. Remember this is after expenses. figures show the numbers.

More than £300,000: 382
£275,000-£300,000: 113
£250,000-£275,000: 159
£225,000-£250,000: 228
£200,000-£225,000: 291
£100,000-£200,000: 4,418
£50,000-£100,000: 8,699