Crap NHS service *rants*

[Workaholic]

Here's another bad story about the NHS service etc...

Basically because my brother had not not visited his dentist for over a year, they un-registered him. We had not recieved any warning of this and was only aware of the situation when he had a toothache and needed to see a dentist.
In the meanwhile he saw another dentist who was thankfully a relative (otherwise it would have been a long wait) and I rang around trying to find a new dentist for my brother. The number provided by his EX-dentist (for the LOCAL governing body of dentists) was incorrect and I was given another number to ring; after 4 DIFFERENT numbers I finally found a number which then gave me 5 local dentists (to a radius of about 10 miles out) that he would be able to register with. After ringing each of these it appeared that they were all full except for one which wouldn't accept any new patients till the end of July (a month and half wait.)

Now who thinks that they can do this?

Because surely its not hard to keep a few sheets of patient records etc, and because the last time I used a different NHS service; the doctors I was only there for a vaccination for a holiday and the doctor commented on my perfect health as I hadn't see him for 3 years.

Now the doctors are happy that you don't visit for a long time (3 years) but the dentist do and delete your records (after just 1 year!) Let's hope the opticians don't do the same as the dentist and be thankful that your previous deleted dental records aren't as important to your health as say doctors notes on what medication and operations you have had in the past.

P.S. because of the long wait to see a dentist in the UK for a toothache its appearing clear why these people travel to say Romania to see one.

[arbitor]

I dont hold much faith for nhs health care tbh, i had a hernia fixed in jan.

I though it was a hernia, i went to see the dr and she said 100% not a hernia, saw another guy and he said 100% was, had it repaired in hospital, and now have another one just above the old one useless

[dave87]

I think private healthcare is the way forward. Ok, it can be expensive (health insurance or PAYG) but my treatment by BUPA was exceptional.

[arbitor]

Yeh i think im going to use them in future if poss.

DEFF not cheap gran had a heart op it was 20k or something silly

[dave87]

Thank goodness for Standard Life then eh?

[arbitor]

I dont knwo anything about it all i know is they had to pay that..

[dave87]

My health insurance is with Standard Life, that was why I said thank goodness for them, as they pick up the tab

[kickstart 1]

All i can say is the NHS has saved my life. At least it is free , and we cant all afford to go private!

[SilentDeath]

I havent been to a dentist for about 6 years, and stuff is no longer free

Will have to wait untill I have some money (my teeth are just very overcrowded to te point that my wisdom teeth didnt come through fully + I probably need some fillings or something, not looking forward to it) :/

[JPreston]

NHS dentistry is a misnomer, because it neither free at the point of delivery or available to all.

If you are lucky enough to have an dentist anywhere you who is even accepting NHS patients - and I'm not, because round here dentists are all money-grabbing bar-stewards - then you pay on average around 80% of the private cost anyway IIRC.

I had a fantastic NHS dentist where I used to live, absolutely faultless service. Since moving house I've had to pay £100+ a go for a bloody check-up, to wait much longer to be given an appointment and still be kept in the waiting room for ages anyway so that some toff with two surnames and no chin can fuel the Cayenne he keeps parked outside his listed building surgery. Greeeeeat.

Dentistry is a racket, they should not be allowed to take private patients at the expense of NHS work. Next thing we'll have firemen being allowed to work privately and charging ££££s before they turn on the hoses, while of course leaving you the right to put your name down for a 'free' fire engine...except there won't actually be any, because they've all gone private....

[shelley bda]

After ringing each of these it appeared that they were all full except for one which wouldn't accept any new patients till the end of July (a month and half wait.)

I doubt you'll find a waiting time shorter than that! when we first registered with our dentist we had to wait nearly a year for our first appointments.

I think it's standard practice to strike you off the list after 2 missed appointments, rightly so too....it's using up space someone else could of had....what effort does it take to go see your dentist twice a year? and it means you can sort out tooth problems sooner rather than later.

[Blitzen]

The NHS is something ALL UK people should be proud of and its the envy of the world.

My daughter who is 2 years old was very ill last weekend and no-one knew what was wrong with her.

Doctors @ 8pm
Hopsital @ 8:30pm
Admitted @ 9:15pm for 2 nights.

The initial suspicion was that she had Meningitis. Fortunately for her she didnt and it was a severe chest infection.

Maybe she was admitted faster as she also has Downs Syndrome which causes other issues but i couldn't fault the service that was provided.

The NHS as it stands may not be the quickest service around and some of the hospitals need major over-hauls, but there is nowhere else you can get medical treatment free.

As for the dentists, they all say when you join them via the NHS that unless you attend every 6 months for a check up you will be taken off record.
I'd say that was fair enough.

[arbitor]

The way i see it is its hot and cold, its the lack of cohesion betweeen the staff inside, and the fact that there is no urgency to get you out of the place, i waited two hours for pills.. it got to the stage where i left as i wasnt waiting any longer for asprin..

i cant fault the waiting time, but another thing that pissed me off was being told to go there at 9am for first day op, and be out same day.

But no, i get there at 9am they say you can wait here, siting in a ward with sick people with nothing to do, and they didn call me untill 3pm.. and because it was so late they made me stay the night aswell, it annoyed me so much i dont want to have this new hernia fixed at the same place.

[sitalchauhan]

I am hoping to get into dentistry next year at uni, so have had to do lots of research and work experience. Whilst at work experience, so many people dont bother turning up for their appointments and dont tell the dentist, meaning that the dentist wastes 10 minutes of his day for each patient that doesnt turn up and doesnt get paid for this time. If 6 patients dont turn up in a day, thats 1 full hour of the day that the dentist is sitting there doing nothing when he could be seeing other people in the area who are looking for a nhs dentist and would be polite enough to tell the dentist when they cannot make their appointment.
There were recent NHS contract reforms where now dentists get paid for each treatment they provide and are set a quota for how many treatments they need to provide per month. If nobody turns up for the appointment, they do not provide any treatment, so are not getting paid and are falling back behind their quota that they need to fill, putting their employment at risk. Also, there is a shortage of dentists in most areas so the dentist is sitting there waiting for 10 minutes with no patient when there are loads of people in the area struggling to find a dentist. I think it is right that dentists should strike off a patient if they do not turn up to 2 consecutive appointments without notifying the surgery, as they are wasting the dentist's time.
Due to this, many dentists are getting fed up working for the NHS and moving into the private sector (or doing both NHS and private at the same time). This is making the NHS shortage even worse!
NHS dental service is free and you should respect this by seeing your dentist as he recommends for regular checkups. Dentists do not just check your teeth, they check many other things aswell (eg oral cancer). Even if you think your oral health is fine, there could always be something happening that you dont know about and by skipping appointments you are making it worse and maybe to late to fix easily.

The NHS is free. If you do not agree with the NHS' terms, then pay to go private yourself.

[JPreston]

...
NHS dental service is free....The NHS is free. If you do not agree with the NHS' terms, then pay to go private yourself.

No, NHS dentistry is not free. Maybe students don't have to pay, but real people do.

The problem is most people would love to see an NHS dentist, but cannot because there is no availability. Why not? Because the dentists are all too busy charging for private work. Nice work if you can get it.

[arbitor]

Exactly where i live there is no nhs dentist as they are doing other things..

And if i dont agree with nhs conduct i would go private, but im paying tax for it as it is.. they shouldnt be so half witted, which is first hand what i got.

I even asked for keyhole and i get a 5 inch scar