Reply from Barotian, Jaffar
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 15:00:53 Z

Firstly I apologise for the delay in responding to your comment. I have only recently been given comment response access so was unable to reply sooner. I am sorry you feel that the information we provided was inadequate. I can confirm that our website states quite clearly that we only accept NHS patients under the age of 18 years and all other patients are seen on a 'pay as you go' basis or by joining a monthly dental plan. The online booking is linked to the practice dental software and is a link designed by the software designers. As the link is written to suit thousands of practices with varying patient types it cannot be personalised. We do not go out of our way to lure unsuspecting NHS patients into the practice only to charge them private fees as you suggest. In fact we do the opposite, providing as much information as we can to assist people who are looking for an NHS dentist locally and do not know how to find one. We are in the process of updating our website and as part of that process we are looking at ways to make it even clearer to new patients about the NHS patient group that we provide a service for. We have also made amendments to our appointment diary so that new patients are more easily flagged up and can be checked by the receptionist prior to attending for their appointment and contacted, where necessary, to check that they understand that we will be providing the service on a private basis. Patients who book in person or by telephone have always been notified that they will be seen on a private basis prior to booking. We are an established dental practice with an excellent reputation, both within the dental industry itself and with our patients. We have never 'ripped' anyone off, nor been involved in 'sharp practice'.