My dentist

Butlers1982

I was "struck off" by my dentist for missing an appointment a couple of months ago. I have been with them for 25 years and always kept upto date with payments and that is the first appointment that i have missed. When i rung to appologise the receptionist told me that my dentist had made the decision that they wouldnt be seeing me at the practice anymore.
I wrote a letter asking him to reconsider, explaining how long i had been there and that it was my family dentist, that i was sorry but it was a genuine error and that i would pay for the time that i had missed.
five weeks later and still no reply so i rang then yesterday querying if they had received my letter. they had and they were standing by their decision. I asked as to why they didnt reply and they said that it was upto me to ring and chase! again i explained my circumstances and nothing.
The fact is that my dentist was too arrogant to even reply to my letter and that is that point that has really annoyed me- no common courtesy to even acknowledge my letter.

Problem now is no dentists at all near me and im stuck.

Fen1

Try the CAB for your rights.
ARe you a private patient or NHS? THere might be a chain of people you can complain to, but definitely start with the CAB.

Butlers1982

Im with the NHS and i dont think CAB can do anything. Dentists have all the power with the shortage of them

LondonDiva

nothing to do with shortage, but with new NHS regulations & the complaints process.

*Under the NHS (England anyway!) you're no longer 'registered with a dentist' since last April.

*You are registered for a course of treatment and your registration lapses when the treatment is completed. Each new treatment is a new relationship.

*Practice is no longer allowed to charge for missed appointments and would not have been able to claim for you not turning up, so they would have lost money by your not turning up.

H*owever, you are entitled to a response to your letter. Ring up the practice again and ask to speak to the practice manager & ask why they have not acknowledged or responded to your letter of complaint. They should acknowledge in 2 working days & respond within 10 working days of receipt unless there is a reason for the delay in which case they should let you know how long they think it should take them to respond.

*I would copy your letter to your local PCT's complaints department and ask them to ensure the practice responds to your query. You can find out by looking for the dentist's details on www.nhs.uk

However, they cannot be forced to see you again. it may be that they have a big problem with patients not turning up (major issue across the NHS) and have decided to take a zero tolerance apporach to the financial loss it represents. The most you can hope for is a response and a hope that they may reflect on your history and consider if they would want to see you again.

myrnahaz

I was struck off as well (actually, my DD was struck off, so I struck the rest of the family off in protest). I rang up to beg forgiveness for the sin (that DD hadn't actually comitted as she hadn't had a reminder), but the nurse told me that the patient has no rights whatsoever, and they are not responsible even to make appointments any more - it's up to the patient to remember that 6/12 months have passed and that they need to make a dental appointment, and if the patient forgets to remember, they get struck off. My new dentist promptly became private so I now pay a fortune to have the family's teeth seen to - an absolute outrage but there's nothing anyone can do about it because there are so few dentists about that they have almost dictator-like powers - do as they say or suffer. The country has gone to the dogs.

Butlers1982

H*owever, you are entitled to a response to your letter. Ring up the practice again and ask to speak to the practice manager & ask why they have not acknowledged or responded to your letter of complaint. They should acknowledge in 2 working days & respond within 10 working days of receipt unless there is a reason for the delay in which case they should let you know how long they think it should take them to respond.

Is this written anywhere? Its very helpful Thanks but where is it from?

Toothsmith

myrnahaz wrote: »

an absolute outrage but there's nothing anyone can do about it because there are so few dentists about that they have almost dictator-like powers - do as they say or suffer. The country has gone to the dogs.

As London said above - there is no shortage of dentists.

What there is a shortage of is dentists willing to work in a way that is completely against the way they have been trained.

To be responsible for far too many patients than they can comfortably provide a half decent service for, and working with a payment system that encourages short simple treatment plans (i.e.taking teeth out rather than saving them).

danielle24

I work for the NHS and the first thing you should do is contact the PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) at your Primary Care Trust who is there to help with things like this. PALS will also be able to advise you where you can find a dentist.

Toothsmith

Butlers1982 wrote: »

Is this written anywhere? Its very helpful Thanks but where is it from?

London is entirely corect.

Dental practices are obliged to have an in-house complaints proceedure. They should respond to acknowledge reciept of a letter of complaint within 10 days (I think) and then write again to give their response to that complaint within a few weeks (4 I think).

Also on those letters should be details of other agencies that you can take your complaint to if you are not satisfied with the practice's response. (PCT, General Dental Council etc.)

If you are not satisfied with the practices response, the PCT would be the appropriate place to go. The General Dental Council is there for misconduct cases.

Again, as London says, the practice IS entitled to refuse to see you if you miss an appointment, as they are NOT allowed to fine you for it.

Some PCTs recommend that at least 2 appointments should be missed before this happens, but this is just a recommendation, and they seldom stipulate over what time span! So if you've missed other appointments over that last 25yrs, you might find those brought up as well!

There isn't, and there never has been any requirement to remind patients of their appointments. Some practices may have done in the past, but if you factor in the time and expense of checking and contacting upwards of 3000 patients per dentist, you can see why, in these days of stretched NHS funds, that has been dropped by many practices.

LondonDiva

Toothsmith wrote: »

Dental practices are obliged to have an in-house complaints proceedure. They should respond to acknowledge reciept of a letter of complaint within 10 days (I think) and then write again to give their response to that complaint within a few weeks (4 I think).

It's changed to 2 working days for acknowledgement & 10 working days for response

Toothsmith wrote: »

There isn't, and there never has been any requirement to remind patients of their appointments. Some practices may have done in the past, but if you factor in the time and expense of checking and contacting upwards of 3000 patients per dentist, you can see why, in these days of stretched NHS funds, that has been dropped by many practices.

Indeedy! Under the previous contract, registration lasped after 15 months of non-attendance. I think we're spoiled in this country by not having to take proactive responsibility for most of our care.