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Case ref:201603349
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Date:May 2017
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Body:A Dentist in the Highland NHS Board area
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Sector:Health
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Outcome:Some upheld, recommendations
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Subject:communication / staff attitude / dignity / confidentiality
Summary
Mrs C complained that she had been given a bill by her dentist which included costs for work which was either corrective or had already been paid for. Mrs C also complained that she was being charged for work that had not been carried out. Additionally, Mrs C complained that the dentist had failed to communicate with her about her treatment needs, in particular that she had once been given a treatment plan with no costs on it.
We took independent dental advice. We found that what Mrs C had believed to be a bill was in fact an estimated treatment plan and therefore she was not being charged for work at the time of her complaint. We did not uphold this aspect of Mrs C's complaint. However, we found that it was unreasonable that she had on one occasion been presented with a treatment plan with no costs on it and therefore we upheld this aspect of Mrs C's complaint.
Recommendations
We recommended that the practice:
- apologise to Mrs C for issuing a treatment plan without any costs on it.