NHS dentist claiming for an appointment I didn't know about.

Shirecycle

I've checked my patient profile online and there is a dentist appointment I have no knowledge of. The strange thing that happened last time I saw this dentist was that at the end of the treatment she made me fill in a blank treatment form(as well as the one for that day), when I questioned why she said it was purely for their records, I thought it strange but did what she asked.

I'm not saying its fraud...but what would be the sensible way of dealing with it? Ask to see the supposed treatment given that day? Am I legally entitled to a copy?

I've had problems with the dental NHS Business Authority a few months ago, I'm wondering if its the actual dentist individual/practice that's a bit iffy. Its a nationwide dentist company.

brook2jack

The simple thing is to ring up and ask about the appointment in your patient profile that you didn't know about.

Unfortunately with computerised records of this type , it is common for the records to be wrong. This is a completely different system from the clinical records system.

There are several different NHS forms you may be asked to fill out , the standard NHS consent form , which has little on it to fill out other than your signature , and if you have treatment a fp17dc form detailing your treatment as well as medical historyforms. If your treatment changes you may be given another fp17dc form to sign .

None of these forms leave the practice, they are for the records only. All treatment is sent off electronically.

The BSA chase patients up who they think are claiming free dental treatment illegally. It is nothing to do with the dentist and it turns out that many of the people the BSA are chasing are entitled to free treatment but due to the complexities of the system their entitlement is not easily verified. It also has to be said many people have been caught out because they didn't understand the difference between income and contributions based benefits , or got caught out when changed from one benefit to another.

Undervalued

brook2jack wrote: »

The simple thing is to ring up and ask about the appointment in your patient profile that you didn't know about.

Two things.....

What is a patient profile in this context? I go to an NHS dentist but am not aware of any "profile" I could look at? I have access to my GP records online but that doesn't show me anything dental unless my doctor and dentist were to correspond.

Secondly, personally I would do any checking in writing (email) and not over the phone so that there is an audit trail in case the dentist is fiddling the system!

brook2jack

Certain large corporate chains allow patients to make appointments via a computer link. The profile is related to appointment making only , not anything clinical. It is a problematic system for many reasons.