Email received from a concerned dental patient
“I hope that you don’t mind that I have sent you this email, but I really didn’t know who to ask about this, and would really appreciate your advice about something, please. Excuse me that it is a bit long-winded, but I will endeavour to explain my situation.
I am a family carer, and I care for 3 members of my family; for this reason, it is often quite difficult to put myself first, even when it comes to pre-booked appointments. I am an NHS patient and, until recently, I was undergoing treatment between my Dentist and the Hospital, as I am suffering drastic bone loss in my gums, and I am slowly losing my teeth. Unfortunately, due to my role as a carer I have had to cancel dental appointments on a few occasions, as something has happened with one of the people who I care for, where they have been unwell, etc. As I don’t have anyone to turn to for support at these times, I have had no alternative but to put whatever I have to do for myself on hold. As I cannot plan ahead for unforeseeable events like this, on two of the occasions, I have only been able to give them two and a half hours notice of cancellation.
Ultimately, I recently received a letter from my dental practice saying that they were ‘deregistering’ me for missing appointments, to make way for new patients. They argued that they cannot be expected to accept 2 hours notice, as it was not enough time to fit anyone else in the slot. As I already suffer with stress and anxiety, this has only added to my worries. I emailed the Practice Manager, explaining that I am a carer, but they wrote back to me basically saying that they are a ‘busy practice’ and they are not changing their mind.
I feel very strongly that I am being discriminated against because I am doing the job of being a carer, and have to put others before myself. I am at a real loss now as to what to do, because a temporary dental prosthesis has already been made for me, which was supposed to be fitted so that the hospital could see how I tolerate it (I suffer with globus hystericus) so that they could cut back on it’s size. Unfortunately, I now can’t go back to see my own Dentist, so don’t know what to do now!! Therefore, any advice that you could give me as to what, if anything, I can do about this (ie. If I can make a complaint to anyone) would be very much appreciated.
I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.
Many thanks”
Can a dentist refuse to see you?
Many practices have a policy of say 2 missed appointments and then they end the professional relationship with the patient.
If you continually let the dentist down and fail to turn up to pre-arranged appointments then the dentist is perfectly justified in his decision. Dentists normally run very busy practices and 2 hours notice of non-attendance gives them no chance to offer the appointment to someone else. If however it’s a one-off reason – you were in a car accident, or say you suddenly became ill then that is completely different. I must side with the dentist on this one as you have a history of failed appointments. Their decision might seem harsh to you but they are running a business and I’m not sure what you expect them to do.
Have they warned you in the past?
If you decide to make a complaint you should see this post http://dentistforum.co.uk/nhs-dentistry/how-to-make-a-complaint-about-dental-treatment/
On a more constructive note you should find out about all the help you are entitled to so that you can continue to care for your family more easily. It seems to me that you need some emergency back-up care arrangements. If you can sort out something like this then the dental practice might change their mind about their decision.
Hello.
I hope your problem can be sorted out. ıf you follow the way admin has showed I am sure you can get a new appointment.
Hi, this message is for Admin, in response to my query at the top of this page. Whilst I very much appreciate that the dentist is ‘running a business’ the fact remains that, as a multiple carer, I have to put others before myself & cannot avoid having to cancel appointments at short notice; however, I do not expect to be penalised for this by any NHS service. I am not asking for special treatment, at all, but surely there should be some sort of plan put in to place within the NHS for carers, which covers this sort of situation; after all, there are more carers, young & old, in this country now than there has ever been! Nevertheless, in my case, I suspect that it was more about the extensive dental treatment plan which had to be carried out, rather than the actual missing of appointments, which led them to de-register me! In answer to your question about warnings, no; I did not, at any time, either by telephone or letter, receive a warning of the
de-registration, or the process thereof. The first I knew about this was when I received their letter to inform me that they had already
de-registered me. Also, thank you for your comments re. help with caring; however, I am aware of the help available, but I cannot force the people who I care for to accept strangers in to their homes to cover for me when I am not available. As I am related to the people I care for, they trust me implicitly to do personal things for them…ie. bathing, dressing, dealing with personal letters, handling money, etc; these are very proud people who do not take kindly to outside help, & would see it as an invasion of privacy, so what do I do in these circumstances? They would also feel that they were a burden to me, should I suggest outside help; I would not wish them to be made to feel that they were ever a burden to me. Therefore, unfortunatley, I do not have a choice here. Ultimately, there must be many people in my situation who are all too readily dismissed because they are not always able to comply with the ‘rules’…. It is so difficult to find a NHS Dentist nowadays, and my treatment is very urgent, due to bone loss, so this has left me in an extremely desperate situation; through no fault of my own, I might add. In this instance, I have no alternative but to make a complaint, even if the outcome is not to my advantage; I feel that a point has to be made here!
Get another dentist.
He obviously is only thinking about his/her wallet and not for the care and well-being off his/her patients, which I always thought was an area that was drilled (excuse the pun!) into them from an early age during studies.
Thanks
Hi
I would like to know that after a dentist has completed NHS treatment plan and the patient has made all the required payments and after few months, there are problems in same teeth, does the patient need to start again with NHS Band payments or he/she is eligible for free treatment?
Is there any defined validity in terms of time duration?
Thanks