pslewis

More than 8,000 NHS dental patients have been fined in the past year for claiming free treatment when they were not eligible in the last year, the BBC has learned.

The fines totalled more than a million pounds.

Some of those affected say the rules about who does and does not qualify were not made clear to them.

But the Department for Work and Pensions says that all claimants receive adequate information.

In total, 8,329 people were fined in the past year.

Vaneeta Sharma was fined £100 for claiming free dental treatment. Despite being in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), she was not on the type that allows you to claim free treatment.

Wouldn't have to attempt to cheat if dentists weren't so damned greedy would they?

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Dentists don't get the patient's payment...........the government do as it's a sort of indirect taxation.

It's the state that prosecutes for fraud and not the dentists, just the same as any other benefit cheats.

Do you think that cheating on benefits is right then PSL ?

Sghaun

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Yet despite this, the UK still manages to fulfill its reputation of the British having god aweful teath.

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Better than the USA, believe me LOL

Shaun

Spell checker on Ali ?

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I never use spell checker. I'd have thought that would have been obvious by now.

However I would say this, typically when inebriated I do spell better than when sober as somehow alcohol cures my dyslexia, although in this case it appears that it is ineffective.


I will try and drink more to rectify the situation

TTFN

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

t
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pslewis

Sghaun ....... spellchecker on?

As far as the patient is aware - they pay the Dentist ......... how much does the Government add on then?

All I know is that our NHS Dentist hates to just do a check-up and let you walk out without doing the least work for the max benefit to him'her.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Odd, as my NHS dentist maximises on check-ups.

Gets them in and out as fast as possible; For a check-up I'm probably in the dental chair for no longer than a minute before giving the thumbs up and the calling of the next patient.

To him its a numbers game, the more the merrier. He has a huge patient list, does a few schools (one a boarding school; ££££ ) and refers any excess and non-NHS specialist work (i.e cleaning etc).

pslewis

Ours knows if he does a Mickey Mouse filling .... in the easiest place he can find .... then he receives 4x the payback for little more than 2x the time/effort.

It's one of the biggest cons going in our society, this dentsitry lark .... alongside Vets, Lawyers and Estate Agents.

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Blimey, should have spotted that typo LOL

For the NHS, The money you pay to the dentist goes into that huge pot of cash that the government pay things out of. The same as we pay tax, VED, NI etc.

The dentist will have negotiated with the comissioners to provide a set amount of dentistry that year...usually known as the Contract value.

The dentist then does the work.........and is paid by the state. Some treatments they lose money on, some treatments they make money on but at the end of the day they end up in profit. The current target is something equivalent to a salary of £114k.

Private dentistry the money goes to the dentist, for insurance schemes you pay for the middlemen to make vast wads of cash.

So, the people in the OP's post are benefit cheats, pure and simple.

Shaun

pslewis

They are trying to eek out a living, yes.

Eeking out a living is not someone on £114,000 a year would understand.

All they see is money going to the Dentist and they want to pay for their kids school educational trip .... but cannot afford both.

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

So you believe that benefit cheats are eeking out a living ??

Benefit fraud costs about £1.2 Billion a year, now that's some "eeking"

Shaun

pslewis

Shaun, you and I don't have to make life choices everyday .....

Yes, there are some who choose to claim free NHS work when they would rather buy a pack of ****.

...seamus...

your threads always come across as "them and us" - the "fat cats" versus "joe public"

but what about the thousands who claim free nhs work, disability this, disability that, buy hooky **** and work "part time" for cash and pay no taxes

are they better or worse in your opinion than the dentist down the road who's fitting dodgy fillings?

stedee

iTrader: (4)

i would want 100k a year for staring in someones mouth and getting spit and what not on my hands everyday

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

.........brought up as a kid with an outside toilet. Don't remember going round nicking things or my parents falsely claiming benefit.

Shaun

pslewis

Same here ... outside bog - shared by the street.

If you couldn't afford it, you couldn't have it .... different these days, they must have it now - and, make someone else pay for it.

I take your points - but, someone on benefits (the wrong ones to claim free NHS) maybe genuinely be confused or shocked at their reduced financial situation ..... paying a Dentist would come very low down their list of priorities (they don't know it goes to the Government!) - they simply see the Dentist in his/her new Porsche and think that they are somehow balancing up the odds.

thesyn

Pete I think you might have taken the recent "PSL is a SN treasure" a little too literally.

Fact is you are coming across as a total **** in this thread.

No offence by the way!

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

He comes over as a **** in every thread ... I wonder why

TX.

cster

Personality disorder?


****, just cracked 2500 posts.
Time to f-off methinks.