Doctors? Dentists!

I do agree with this in today's news. There are obviously many people who, for whatever reason, do not keep their appointments with their G.P. There is the problem that in some practices it is impossible to get an appointment within 2 or even 3 weeks unless you are dying, and even then, it's not certain! Not surprising, then, that the less organised of us may forget about the appointment before it comes round. Incidentally, I will pay homage to my previous doctor here. He runs a practice single handed, with a mix of appointment and open access sessions and I have never had to wait more than 2 days for an appointment with him, which begs the question - if he can do it, why can't larger practices?
The problem I have at present, however, is not with doctor's appointments. My problem is with dental appointments, or lack of. It shocked me when I looked at NHS website for Wales and discovered that, in the whole of Clwyd, not just Wrexham, there is not one dentist who is taking on new patients, either NHS or private! So I have the choice of hoping nothing goes wrong with my teeth in the near future or doing a 100 mile round trip to my former dentist near Liverpool!
So much for Tony Blair's wish to improve the state of the nation's teeth! I bet he doesn't have a problem getting his pearly whites sorted out!

3 comments:

Alfie said...

I have a dentist - he too is in the outskirts of Liverpool. He operates a sort of a private scheme - his patients shell out an average of around £13 per month. He has about 3,500 patients...... Making a grand total of about 45 grand a month coming in.....

I've been with him for years - and when he decided to go private, about 4 years ago I was left with no choice whatsoever. There was just no one else to go to. As soon as he went private I noticed lots of new kit and shiny stuff all over the surgery.

Jennytc said...

I asked my former dentist about this problem that dentists seem to have with staying in the NHS and he said that, financially, he didn't feel any need whatsoever to opt out so maybe it is down to greed????

Dale said...

162,000,000???? Cor! In Canada, each province is responsible for its own health care. Here in Ontario, most doctors (dentists too) charge a fee for a missed appointment. The patient is the one who pays. The fee could be as little as $10 or as much as $75, depending on the doctor and the service he/she provides. It tends to render us a little less forgetful.

100 mile drive to see a dentist? Holy molar!! Brush, Jenny. And floss every day!!! No sweets!!!! LOL!!

Plaster board and dust

So, we're still no further forward on the British Gas smart meter front and I've given up making non-existent appointments with them...