Dentist charging for missed NHS appointment

devondiver

I had an NHS dental appointment booked for 9.45 in November but incorrectly wrote 10am on my calendar. At c.9.50 on the appointed day I had parked up and was biding my time just a few minutes away from them when they rang me to say 'where are you'. I explained and said I would be there within 5 minutes. They declined and said they would rebook the appointment which they did. When I attended the new appointment a month later I was told that as a result of 'missing' my previous appointment I was required to pay a new Band 2 charge of c.£65.

I later queried this and was told they are entitled to make this charge and invited me to the check the NHS website. This I checked (https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/what-happens-when-you-visit-the-dentist/) and found what I believe are the relevant sections which state:

1)      Your dentist can terminate your treatment if you miss your appointment without letting the dental surgery know. You may then need to pay again for a new course of treatment.

but also -  2)      Your dentist should not: charge you for missed appointments for NHS treatment.

Now, I do appreciate that, especially in this neck of the woods, NHS dental treatment is hard to find - so I do not want to upset him (too much). So my questions are:

a) do knowledgeable readers (other dentists) think he is acting reasonably and within the rules? Especially considering that I am often kept waiting 10 or 20 minutes when attending an appointment. (Please don't go on about how hard life is for dentists doing NHS work. I completely understand all that.)

b) can I reasonably expect this new charge to cover me for future appointments? For instance: I am left with a temporary (or semi-permanent) molar filling which my dentist says does not require replacement for up to 3 months.

c) what can I say to him to move forward without rocking the boat (too much).

Thanks for reading 

brook2jack2

There is no such thing as a band A charge of circa £67. 

If you were in the middle of a NHS course of treatment then you would be in a band 2 charge which is £65.20 . 

The practice will have a written policy about missing and late appointments . In general NHS practices are inundated with people needing treatment. It is extremely taxing to keep to time as people can have emergencies or treatment may take longer than allotted or because it is more complex than it seemed before treatment started. Every second of the day is located to treatment . If a patient turns up late it pushes everyone else back , makes them wait , then add on emergencies etc and things become impossible. 

If you have failed to keep an appointment or are too late then most practices will send that course of treatment off and you will have to pay for that course and you will have to start a new course of treatment with the according cost. Many will have a policy in which you will not be offered any more appointments if you miss appointments . 

You have not been charged for missing an appointment , you have been charged the outstanding charge for a course of treatment started , but not finished because you missed an appointment . 

In Scotland and NI dentists are allowed to charge for missed appointments so you would have had to pay outstanding charges plus an amount that would have covered some of the cost of your missed appointment. 

Root filled teeth or very heavily filled will often need crowns . Many dentists like to wait a few months before crowning a tooth that is root filled or heavily filled to make sure it has settled. You will have to pay for the filling which is part of a band 2 treatment and then in three months that is a new course of treatment which if it is a crown is band 3 which you will have to pay. 

devondiver

brook2jack2 said:

There is no such thing as a band A charge of circa £67. 

Typo corrected, thanks. 

I said c.£65 BTW. 

devondiver

brook2jack2 said:

You have not been charged for missing an appointment , you have been charged the outstanding charge for a course of treatment started , but not finished because you missed an appointment . 

Sorry but - as stated in my OP - this was "a new Band 2 charge"; i.e. it was additional to the Band 2 charge already paid for the current treatment course and there was no outstanding charge. So, in effect, I was being penalised (i.e. 'charged') for 'missing' an appointment.

However, as I now understand it, procedurally - the current treatment course then ongoing was curtailed by the 'missed' appointment. So at my re-scheduled appointment I had to pay to start a new course of treatment - even though this was actually just to continue the ongoing treatment. Still confused?

Anyway, any informed answers to my questions a), b) and c) will be much appreciated (even if they are just: Yes; No; and Don't know).    

Undervalued

devondiver said:

brook2jack2 said:

You have not been charged for missing an appointment , you have been charged the outstanding charge for a course of treatment started , but not finished because you missed an appointment . 

Sorry but - as stated in my OP - this was "a new Band 2 charge"; i.e. it was additional to the Band 2 charge already paid for the current treatment course and there was no outstanding charge. So, in effect, I was being penalised (i.e. 'charged') for 'missing' an appointment.

However, as I now understand it, procedurally - the current treatment course then ongoing was curtailed by the 'missed' appointment. So at my re-scheduled appointment I had to pay to start a new course of treatment - even though this was actually just to continue the ongoing treatment. Still confused?

Anyway, any informed answers to my questions a), b) and c) will be much appreciated (even if they are just: Yes; No; and Don't know).    

Yes.

My understanding is that, in England, an NHS dentist cannot legally charge for a missed appointment. So, in a simple case where somebody books a first appointment then fails to turn up they cannot be forced to pay any fee. The merits of that are debatable but AFAIK that is the law.

They can however decline to see that patient ever again.

As Brook has pointed out your situation is more complex in that you failed to show up mid way through a course of treatment and they used that (as an excuse??) to bring that course to a close without completing it. I am not a 100% clear on the legal position with that. However, AFAIK the same could have happened if you had properly cancelled the missed appointment (with reasonable notice) but couldn't agree another date within a certain time.

Whilst I sympathise with dentists about many of the problems in operating a NHS practice and can't blame them for opting out and going private, what is inexcusable is to offer NHS treatment then bend the rules. If they are doing that here (and I am not 100% sure they are) then you should certainly make a formal complaint.

mda99das

It appears that they have not charged you an FTA fee, but as you had not completed the course of treatment, they closed it down as incomplete treatment.
As I am sure you can appreciate NHS treatment is in such huge demand due to the pandemic, and due to the way practices have to run to keep patients and staff safe, this is creating a backlog, plus there is a recruitment crisis in dentistry.  All these factors make transitioning back to normality very difficult or near on impossible. As your treatment has been closed, your spot has probably been allocated to someone else on the list.
I know this sounds harsh but its your responsibility that you turn up on time as this causes issues, eg fallow time and then running behind for the next patient.