Dentist cancelled because of maternity exemption

[Acc0untant]

This isn't a huge deal in the grand scheme of things but I feel a bit put out regardless.

My dentist has cancelled my appointment next month and when I queried why the receptionist told me that they aren't seeing any patients who are exempt at the minute. In my case I have a maternity exemption certificate (runs out in March). She said it's because they aren't receiving any NHS funding for it at the minute.

The point of the maternity exemption is that due to pregnancy you can have additional things needing work (pregnant gingivitis etc) and you aren't unfairly penalised by having to visit often. In this case they're saying I can't be seen until I start paying the NHS prices again in April.

Not going to pull the discrimination card (although being told I can't use their services until I no longer have an exemption due to pregnancy certainly feels like it) but would like to hear the thoughts of others on this too!

This is absolutely discrimination on the grounds of maternity, which is illegal under the Equality Act 2010. You exemplar is a woman who wasn't exempt from charges.

Taking it to court is expensive but I recommend contacting Pregnant Then Screwed and writing to your MP. Also write to WES Streeting as Health Secretary and to Anneliese Dodds as Minister for Women. Copy in your dentist and send a copy to the Dailly Mail. Play your cards right and the DM will pay you for your story.

BTW if they kick you off their list as a result, that's victimisation and increases how much compensation you'll get in court. You could crowd fund it.

The practice will at least get the NHS fee for his treatment.

If you read my previous posts many dental practices were working on promises of 10% extra funding to see more people. That funding was removed in November, used to prop up NHS elsewhere. Negotiations are ongoing but as things stand if the practice treated exempt patients they would have spent out on staff, materials etc for no money at all for 2 1/2 months.

Many have stopped treating patients except for private fees . This practice would appear to be doing its best by treating non exempt patients for NHS fees hoping they will get the tiny bit of funding the NHS supplies but if they don’t succeed at least they have taken a bit of money in.

NHS dentistry runs at a loss for most practices , how soon would they go bust treating people for free until April 1st?

Unfortunately they are allowed to do this and in fact have to do this. It’s not the dentist you should be angry at, it’s the government funding for NHS dental. You don’t pay, they have no money left to fund it, they can’t work for free, so they have to cancel the unpaid for appointments. It happens quite regularly at my dentist when the funding runs out they have to delay appointments until they can afford to run them. It’s rubbish for you and it’s also rubbish for them, but neither of you is at fault, it’s a much bigger issue above both of you.

No, it’s not, because everyone who doesn’t pay will also be cancelled and so OP is not being targeted due to maternity exemption.

So why can OP's partner have a check up and pay the NHS rate but OP can only have a check up and pay the private patient rate? Why is she getting worse treatment due to her maternity exemption? I understand that if they have run out of funding they can't treat patients that pay nothing, but why can't OP who is normally an NHS patient, pay the fees she would pay if she hadn't been pregnant and had a baby?

Because he is going to pay the fee.

Again, OP isn’t specifically targeted because of the maternity exemption, anyone who has an exemption will also be cancelled, including for example those on UC, therefore there is not a case for pregnancy discrimination here. It’s shit, but it would also be shit for the dentist to work for free and I’m sure you wouldn’t work for free in your role either, so the way to place your anger here is at the funding, the government, not the dentist.

Because the announcement about the 10% extra funding was only received by many practices this month and they are trying to negotiate with commissioning groups . If they succeed they will get the little bit the NHSpays above the patient charges.

If they don’t , at worst at least they still have the patient charges to mitigate losses .

Where I live there are no longer any NHS dentists anywhere in Devon/Cornwall for adults and children
my daughter had to pay £100 for my 9 year old grandson to see a dentist and to have a tooth taken out

I had this at my dentist, they'd see paying NHS patients but not exempt ones.
They explained that their newest (and only NHS) dentist qualified in another country and until some paperwork or other was sorted he wasn't approved for NHS funding. The work he was doing for paid NHS patients they said was private work being reduced to NHS rates temporarily.
Not sure if that's 100% true but with how difficult it is to get registered at any dentist I took a view, paid up and will ask again about my exemption at my next appt tomorrow.

But they're still treating children who pay nothing so it's not straightforward. Pregnancy discrimination absolutely applies here because teeth are worse as a result.

No op did not know if children were being treated. They did know all exempt people were not being treated.

No, it doesn’t. OP can see a solicitor who will tell her the same. If they were ONLY cancelling maternity exemptions, yes, as they are cancelling any exemptions, no, it’s not discrimination.

Also, nowhere has OP said they are still treating children, so unless you’re a mind reader or psychic I’m not sure where you’ve made that up from.

It’s a nightmare to get a NHS dental performer number, needed to do NHS treatment. It can take up to a year since the list administration was taken over by a private contractor. Fastest I’ve heard of was three months.

No I would not be paying to treat you - if you disagree approach your mp, do you expect the dentist to pay his/her own money to treat you?

Ridiculous isn't it.

My teeth were fine.
Got pregnant and moved house. No dentist, no money lol.
Couldn't find a dentist for love nor money who would touch me as I was exempt.
NHS dentists weren't even taking onto a waiting list never mind actively seeing patients.
Been back at work 2 years now and can just about afford a private dental plan now, my teeth are ruined and my gums are done. It makes me so sad. Dental care should not be a lottery.

It isn't the dentist who's discriminating, it's the nhs who won't provide the funding. or do you think the dentist should work for free, his nurse and receptionist work for free, his landlord, and utilities etc should give him a discount?

You can get an exemption certificate for lots of different reasons so folk on low income might have had their appts cancelled to. That's isn't good. Dental health has a direct impact on folks health and wellbeing and low income families are already at a disadvantage with poor health outcomes due to their socioeconomic status

This happened to me back in 2020. Private dentist cancelled my appointment when I had a maternity exemption. When I telephone them back, they offered me a spot as a private patient.

I think to cancel an existing appointment to a patient in need because theyre pregnant is discriminatory

She's the one who will suffer more than the dentist

Would you work for free?

They're hardly working for free, this is a patient who has seemingly been with them a while - and appointment doesn't take more than 20 mins!

Imagine if a nurse saw a sick person in the street and said 'sorry, not working!'

Would echo this what have suggested to complain to your local Integrated Care Board. They might not be able to get you seen before April but they need to hear what is happening and it's impact on patients.

If the practice operates for 3 months without income then the business will fail and there will be no treatment for anyone. This is why so many practices have handed back their NHS contracts and moved to private work only.

Patients that qualify as exempt from treatment charges include some of society's most vulnerable people, it is so concerning that the result of the funding system is that they aren't able to access care.

The patient is not pregnant , she is coming to the end of her exemptions therefore she has had pregnancy and 12 months afterwards , so , presumably she has been seen before now.
She wants a check up and has been told she can book after April 1st when new contract money comes in.
She wants to be seen before then because her exemption runs out soon.
If the dentist saw people for 21/2 months for free whilst paying £140 to £200 plus an hour per room in the surgery in running costs , how soon before they go bust when NHS dentistry is already mostly not paid sufficiently ?

And if they have 500 people with exemptions who’ve all been on the books for years?

Dentists are paid per treatment , per person seen. They are only funded for so many treatments a year . Once they run out that’s it. There is no other funding, all practice expenses are paid from UDAs (units of dental activity).

As one room in a dental practice from £140 to over £200 an hour to run for each 20 minutes the dentist is paying at least £45 to cover the costs , with no pay for themselves.