NHS scotland Dentist cancellation fees

charlotte661

hello

ok so I phoned the NHS dentist this morning as I started to feel sick/be sick the middle last night and still not any better today so I had to cancel my dentist appointment that was supposed to be today so the lady on the other end of the phone told me there would be a £70 cancellation fee well my jaw nearly hit the floor! im on income support so can not afford to pay £70 this moment in time but I cant get any treatment until ive paid it obviously. my question is if im on income support do I have to pay the whole £70 fee?

thank you for any help.

Hintza

If they told me that I would have been down there licketty split to avoid the charge.

I can't find much on it and I guess you could argue it is excessive but have a look here:-

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3060510

charlotte661

thank you. I was going to go down straight after but I phoned them back and spoke to someone higher up and said I could maybe get the amount reduced but just waiting for them to phone me back now.

Toothsmith

I would ask the same question I asked on the thread from a couple of years ago.

How often does this happen for you?

If you are a regular non-attender/late canceler, then they are more likely to get fed up of you and apply a fee than if you have only had this happen the once.

If you've never been late/cancelled late or missed an appointment then I think it would be quite harsh to apply this fee fully for a first offence.

Torry_Quine

My dentist does this charging for an appointment not cancelled at least 24 hours before which is somewhat ironic as check-ups are free!

brook2jack

Well it's not ironic as although the check up costs a patient nothing if that patient doesn't turn up the staff , bills etc still have to be paid and the dentist has earned no money to pay these.

Unfortunately studies in England have shown missed appointment rates rocketed after nhs dentists in England were no longer allowed to charge for missed appointments.

The failure rate is around 40% for new patients and in general the patients who miss most appointments are males 18 to 25 and those who do not pay for dental treatment.

The only thing that decreases this massive waste of time and money is charging patients who don't cancel appointments in time or just fail to turn up. In England and Wales texting people, ringing them to remind ,e mailing have made little difference to the drop in attendance since fines could no longer be imposed.

wealdroam

Torry_Quine wrote: »

My dentist does this charging for an appointment not cancelled at least 24 hours before which is somewhat ironic as check-ups are free!

Well somebody pays the dentist for the 'free' checkup even if you don't.

So if the checkup does not take place, that 'somebody' will not be paying the dentist.
You then need to cover the dentist's lost income.

jacques_chirac

I actually believe this should be enforced across the NHS and at non subsidised rates - then people might realise the true cost of healthcare and think more carefully before not turning up.

Torry_Quine

I get that someone ie the taxpayer is paying for my 'free' check-up but it seems on an individual basis strange that it costs more to not go than to go! They charge £1 per minute so a reoutine check-up of 10 minutes is £10 and my friend was charged when delayed by a car accident when she got there a few minutes late and had never missed before. We are e-mailed on making the appointment, and a few days before to remind us.

jacques_chirac

Torry_Quine wrote: »

I get that someone ie the taxpayer is paying for my 'free' check-up but it seems on an individual basis strange that it costs more to not go than to go! They charge £1 per minute so a reoutine check-up of 10 minutes is £10 and my friend was charged when delayed by a car accident when she got there a few minutes late and had never missed before. We are e-mailed on making the appointment, and a few days before to remind us.

Work out the costs involved in providing that service - £1 a minute is a bargain

brook2jack

£1 a minute doesn't even begin to cover the costs of running a practice. One room/surgery in a cheap nhs practice in a cheap area will cost upwards of £120 an hour to run.

So even paying the fine will not cover a practices expenses.