Dental surgery tells patients to go private
A dental clinic surgery is being investigated after its workers advised NHS patients to switch to a private insurance scheme.
The local NHS visited Westbury Park practice, Clayton, Staffordshire, twice after NHS patients complained to the Primary Care Trust (PCT).
The PCT currently pay Westbury Park to carry out 20,000 NHS treatments a year, but the practice also treats private patients as part of the Denplan program – which costs around £20 per month.
Linda Riley, PCT chief executive, said patients told the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), part of the PCT, that Westbury Park had advised people to have private treatment at the practice despite being registered as NHS patients.
She also claimed that investigations about this issue were on-going and added that an action plan had been drawn up to address the problem.
The area’s health scrutiny sub-committee has welcomed the PCT’s actions. One member, Hilda Johnson, claimed that the investigation showed that the PALS and the PCT were working and added that it showed local people that their concerns and opinions were being listened to.
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