I have a really excellent dentist. He and his team are a delight. They stayed open during covid, all be it with great coverings and questionaires and various precauctions that took them a great amount of time per patient. They have been exemplary - for any health care or any company, come to that.
It's a shame Joyce cannot swap to someone who gives a toss. Surely it would be worth going further a field - like having a trip to London - if you need urgent work done. I can mail you details of my guy, if you like. It might seem like a faff, but at least you'd get great work at short notice.
I'm sure we have had this conversation before some years back, and I said the exact same thing.
Thank you very much, Fire. I live in Cornwall and am over 80 so a 5 hr drive into London is too much for me now. A 4hr train journey costing hundreds, on top of the treatment cost is also too much for me. My last bill was £700.00. Plus overnight costs.
My dentist is lovely, she has always looked after me beautifully and I have no complaints about her. I feel she is as much a victim of the situation as I am. I did tell her how annoyed I felt and she said she would pass my complaint on to the management team.
I did look into changing practices when I was trying to make an appointment. One practice did offer to fit me in, but it would have cost a lot more. Another practice I looked into was making patients wait outside the building, they did provide a hard chair for you to sit on whilst waiting in the rain, gale, or sunshine. They didn't reply to answer machine messages so I assume they are part of the same group as the dentist I attend. My fear is my practice will lose so many of their patients because of their poor service they will be forced to close down.
I had to fill in pages for 3 different forms initially, then have to fill another one each time I have an appointment. No one in the reception office wears masks etc. now but patients have to. The dentists are still fully masked and gowned but the cleaning regime has eased for them. I think they have closed their car park area because the surface is diabolical and needs resurfacing. Perhaps a patient had a fall in one of the pot holes.
Hi James in Texas! I’m retired now, but I’m not enjoying this thread much at all. I worked in the NHS all my life, and have watched all the successive ‘improvements’ to the provision of dental care with despair. I do feel for you, @Joyce Goldenlily I was slightly involved in developing the bid for a new dental school in Plymouth, which it was hoped would result in newly qualified dentists setting up home and practices in the SouthWest. Unfortunately the current system would drive any sane person straight into private practice, and I couldn’t blame them.
Thank you for your comments, everyone. Now I just have to be patient and live with a gaping hole in my smile? Grimace? until the middle of May when a course of 3 treatments will be started. I hate to think what the bill will be.
My next challenge is to make a Drs. appointment.
You are 39th in the queue. Waiting time is approximately 45 mins. A Dr. will contact you in the next 5-7 days. No appointments available for 2 weeks.
Hang on in there dear. Don't die yet. Someone will see you, eventually!
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My dentist is lovely, she has always looked after me beautifully and I have no complaints about her. I feel she is as much a victim of the situation as I am. I did tell her how annoyed I felt and she said she would pass my complaint on to the management team.
I did look into changing practices when I was trying to make an appointment. One practice did offer to fit me in, but it would have cost a lot more. Another practice I looked into was making patients wait outside the building, they did provide a hard chair for you to sit on whilst waiting in the rain, gale, or sunshine. They didn't reply to answer machine messages so I assume they are part of the same group as the dentist I attend.
My fear is my practice will lose so many of their patients because of their poor service they will be forced to close down.
I had to fill in pages for 3 different forms initially, then have to fill another one each time I have an appointment. No one in the reception office wears masks etc. now but patients have to. The dentists are still fully masked and gowned but the cleaning regime has eased for them. I think they have closed their car park area because the surface is diabolical and needs resurfacing. Perhaps a patient had a fall in one of the pot holes.
I worked in the NHS all my life, and have watched all the successive ‘improvements’ to the provision of dental care with despair.
I do feel for you, @Joyce Goldenlily I was slightly involved in developing the bid for a new dental school in Plymouth, which it was hoped would result in newly qualified dentists setting up home and practices in the SouthWest.
Unfortunately the current system would drive any sane person straight into private practice, and I couldn’t blame them.
@Joyce Goldenlily your situation does sound horrendous and I hope you are able to resolve it ASAP.
As with so many other services we rely on, it does seem to be a bit of a Post Code lottery.
Now I just have to be patient and live with a gaping hole in my smile? Grimace? until the middle of May when a course of 3 treatments will be started. I hate to think what the bill will be.
My next challenge is to make a Drs. appointment.
You are 39th in the queue.
Waiting time is approximately 45 mins.
A Dr. will contact you in the next 5-7 days.
No appointments available for 2 weeks.
Hang on in there dear. Don't die yet. Someone will see you, eventually!