Question about NHS Funding for childrens orthodontic work/ braces

[2018name]

I understand that the NHS funding for chidrens orthodontist work is all paid up front. This makes it very difficult to move practices once treatment commences. What happens therefore if:

1. You have orthodontic work at NHS orthodontic practice within a hospital and move across the country during treatment so that you cannot attend the funded hospital anymore - does this leave you with no treatment going forward in the new part of the country?

1. what if the service at the nhs practice/hospital you are having treatment at goes rapidly downhill - think 12-16 weeks between appointments and not the more usual 6-8 weeks with clinic being frequently cancelled on short notice and then having to start the wait for the next appointment again. Are you forced to stay in these circumstances?

Grateful for any thoughts on this.

Our orthodontist lost his NHS contract. We were faced with going somewhere across the county that only took NHS patients during the school day. We complained to NHS England and the ombudsman and got nowhere. So now we are paying £4.5K - and the extra joy of it all is that he would still - even after a year of treatment - be eligible for NHS treatment if it was a first referral.

OP, are you talking about Hospital or an orthodontic practice? They're funded very differently.

If the treatment is at a hospital rather than a practice, is there something difficult/multidisciplinary/interesting about it that makes in unsuitable for treatment in practice?

If it was a hospital, I'd expect them to be able to transfer care to another hospital but it's not straightforward due to waiting times, referral guidelines, treatment planning and so on.

PALS may be able to help.

If it is an orthodontist in a practice who subcontracts time to the NHS, you may have to be re-referred in the new area.

Mrsmorton - no there is nothing about it that makes it unsuitable in practice it is just beng done in the orthodontic section of the hospital as he needed oral surgery first for difficult teeth removel. But yes he is being seen inside the hospital.

As he is under a hospital is there no way care can be transferred to another NHS practice or does it have to be a hospital and, if so, is it the hospital itself that does this? How do I get them to do this?

Thought of PALs but this is what is being offered to all so not sure how that will help.

What would happen if we moved out of area while being under the hospital? Do you know how this would be dealt with?

Thanks very much.

Elly's dental care is split between her regular [private] dental surgeon who teaches dentistry, her orthodontist which is fully paid for by the NHS due to jaw issues related to her being so tiny and her teeth are not. She has fibeorus dysplasia which is handled by the Orthopeadic Oncology teams.

So far the referring between her dentist/orthodontist and hospitals as needed has been pretty good. That could be down to her having what they like to describe as 'interesting bones'. Her dentist referred her to the orthodontist so they could access her mouth, bite, which teeth where teeth and which were not [her FD causes enamel pearls to form that look like seed teeth] and work out which teeth could stay and which might need to go before any extractions were planned. It may be the hospital who do the extractions rather than the fitting and management of braces.

I would give the hospital clinic a call and ask to speak to the named consultants secretary and ask if they can find out about this for you before your son is seen. IF a child is being seen by one hospital and you move well away from the area and your child still needs hospital rather than community based care they can make a referral to another hospital to continue care. Again ask your sons named consultant via their secretary for help on this.