Can a NHS dentist just remove me from their list!?

JasonBat

Hi,

I queried an x-ray my NHS dentist provided by way of letter and in return I get a letter back saying I've been removed from his list and he is now unable to see me or offer any further treatment.

I queried the x-ray as the previous one he provided were remarkably different and were meant to be the same x-ray taken at exactly the same time.

I suspect he is just trying to cover his back and it is more convenient for him to remove me from his patients list.

What do I do now? I'm rather aggrieved to say the least.

Thanks in advance.

mda99das

It depends on the circumstances.
Can you provide us with more detail, from when you first booked the appointment.

JasonBat

I've been registered with them for quite some many years.

I saw a consultant at my local hospital who requested I undergo an x-ray to be taken by my dentist in an area where I have also been experiencing quite some pain in my upper jaw.

My dentist took the x-ray and there appeared to a foreign body present.

I then took this x-ray to a different consultant who initially made a dismissive remark on the foreign body in question then later denied saying anything in this regard. He also took the only copy of the x-ray I had. I raised an NHS complaint and my dentist received copies of correspondence.

I then requested another copy of the x-ray from my dentist who appeared to have adjusted the contrast before printing it out. I then queried this in very polite terms only to get a letter through the post dismissing me from his care.

Bantex_2

Most dentists are not employed by NHS, they just get paid for some work by the NHS. As private individuals they can choose who they want or don't want as clients.

JasonBat

Thanks Bantex.

So they can cherry-pick patients and discriminate at will?

Toothsmith

What difference did the change in contrast make?

Basically, yes - so long as it's obviously not racial, sexual, or any other 'recognised' form of discrimination, the dentist can see who they like, and not see who they don't like.

There strikes me as something more in this 'foreign body' 'NHS Complaint' and 'Contrast querie' that is just flagging you up to this dentist as someone better off avoided.

I must admit - the alarm bell in my head is clanging a bit as well!

moneyistooshorttomention

Not just NHS dentists only wanting very "compliant" type patients. I recently registered here with a private dentist (as that's what I've been used to for a while) and got "thrown out on my ear" for having my own ideas about MY own body!! How very dare I obviously:cool:

Have managed to find another dentist okay, but was definitely feeling nervous about "Just how do I check them out as being one who accepts they make recommendations but I make the decisions?" They recommended that part of my treatment be by a rather old-fashioned/risky method, but did accept that I knew it was and wasn't going to do things that way and did things my way okay.

I guess it's a bit luck of the draw.

Toothsmith

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Not just NHS dentists only wanting very "compliant" type patients. I recently registered here with a private dentist (as that's what I've been used to for a while) and got "thrown out on my ear" for having my own ideas about MY own body!! How very dare I obviously:cool:

Have managed to find another dentist okay, but was definitely feeling nervous about "Just how do I check them out as being one who accepts they make recommendations but I make the decisions?" They recommended that part of my treatment be by a rather old-fashioned/risky method, but did accept that I knew it was and wasn't going to do things that way and did things my way okay.

I guess it's a bit luck of the draw.

Yep - I'm purely private and these days my whacko filter is set very high!

It's just far too easy for patients to initiate very serious complaints these days.

If you go along with someone who will only have a filling 3 days after the first new moon of the month and requires gojo berry infusion being wafted round the surgery to counter the poisonous effects of an old amalgam filling being removed - then sure as eggs is eggs, at the first sign of a toothache in such a patient, a complaint will be made. The dentist will then find themselves up before the GDC with all the ridiculous stuff being read out in the hearing, and finding himself without a leg to stand on 'for treating a patient - who is obviously not able to give informed consent due to mental incapacity - in a non-evidence based way!

There are enough patients out there who are happy to be treated in a way that stacks up with the proper evidence to keep me comfortable until retirement. I'll happily leave the rest to those that want to live more dangerously!

brook2jack

A dentist has to make a clinical judgement according to their training and experience. If they change their treatment plan against their better judgement but because a patient wishes an alternative it is medico legally indefensible if something goes wrong , even if the patient has indicated they will take the risk.

In dentistry , like all medicine, there are rarely black and white right answers, and give one patient to four dentists and you will get five different treatment plans.

Because of this each dentist will have a different treatment ethos and obviously it is in no ones interests if the dentist and patient have differing opinions and a patients best interests will be to seek treatment with a dentist they feel comfortable with. Since much of dentistry involves trust if the relationship has broken down it is in no ones interest that a patient continues to see a dentist whose clinical judgement they do not trust.

Obviously a patient has to give informed consent to treatment but they cannot dictate to the dentist what treatment they have to carry out as ultimately the dentist has to justify what they have done , even when done with patients consent.

daffodiltulip

If they get paid by NHS, that means they work for them also as well as their private clients, doesn't it? They accepted the contract to provide a health service and have to work within some sort of guidelines. They can't just do that willynilly without explanation - ask them in writing, explaining your experience, why they have dropped you and then find out what you can do about it.
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1777.aspx?categoryid=74&subcategoryid=742

brook2jack

In England and Wales there is no such thing as registration with a dentist anymore. There is no such thing as having a list any more although many dentists try to keep appointments for regular patients.

Scotland and NI still have registration.

If you are not under a course of treatment the dentist has no obligation to see you at all even if you have been a regular attender in England and Wales.

A break down in the patient dentist relationship is sufficient reason for the dentist to refuse to see someone , and a dentist has an absolute right to refuse to treat someone on this basis in any of the home countries.