‘Better deal’ for private dental patients
Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt today announced plans to make private dentistry more transparent and accountable.
Her move follows a report earlier this year by the Office of Fair Trading which highlighted problems for consumers in using private dental care.
The Department of Trade and Industry (Dti) has called for clearer information on prices and treatments to help patients make informed choices and to increase competition, and for a new complaints procedure.
Ms. Hewitt commented:” The market for private dentistry is not working as well as it should be. Consumers often lack basic information on prices, the quality of services and what treatments are available on the NHS.”
However, she insisted that the new legislation would not put any “unnecessary restrictions” on private practice.
The situation is particularly confusing for patients who visit a practice which performs both private and NHS dental care, as is the case at an estimated two-thirds of surgeries.
Therefore the Dti has also called for patients to be given written treatment plans, clarifying what dental work is going to be done and whether it is purely private or a combination of both NHS and private treatment.
There should also be an itemised bill for patients and advice on where to receive NHS treatment if the patient so wishes.
The OFT will be launching an information campaign at the start of next month in order to make consumers more aware about their rights and options.
But there are also concerns that there are not enough dentists working in the NHS, with an increasing number taking on some level of private work.
The British Dental Association has claimed that the crossover has been “prompted largely by lack of investment in NHS dentistry” causing practitioners to generate additional income for investment through private work.
The Department of Health has acknowledged there is a need to make NHS dentistry a “more attractive option to general dental practitioners”, and the department is now working in partnership with the General Dental Council.
