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"Poor service. Too long to wait for an appointment."

About: Birmingham Dental Hospital

After being transferred to this dental hospital back in 2012 I had high hopes of having restoration work done on my teeth, due to hypodontia related problems, as quickly as possible as I was moving into my first year at university and in no way would I be able to afford it if i was not at university, and hopefully this would also solve confidence problems. However, it took until June of 2012 till April of 2013 to have one letter inviting me to a consultation appointment in the orthodontic department. Although an annoying wait due to the ongoing regressive situation of my teeth, I knew I would be waiting this long. Knuckling under the system, I arrived at the appointment only to be met by a rude receptionist. After waiting to be called in, I was seen by yet again another rude member of staff who made it seem like i was being scolded, he also didn't bother explaining to me what was going on with my teeth- which would have been nice for clarification as my dentist who referred me had no idea. It was good however that I received a letter there and then when leaving the dental hospital for a next appointment, which was a couple months away (June 2013). However, a week before this second appointment I received a phone call saying the Doctor had cancelled the appointment and therefore I would have to wait for a new one. Great. It is now February 2014, I am in my second year at university- not much time left to sort this out- and I have just received a letter for a new appointment. How does this work? This is not acceptable. If the dental hospital has cancelled on me, for whatever reason- the doctor is sick or I've been put in the wrong department- then it is the dental hospital's responsibility to reschedule a new appointment as close as possible to the last appointment, which clearly did not happen. Not only that, but I've been told I will be going to a new department and therefore this new appointment is another consultation, even though x-rays were done last time. In addition, I am unable to attend the 'new consultation appointment' because of commitments to university lectures. When I rang up to rearrange a new appointment I wasn't even told how long I may be waiting for, despite asking the receptionist on the phone. Now I will have to wait for another year probably to even reach consultation level again. From being transferred to the dental hospital in 2012 I have only had one appointment to visit the orthodontic department, it is now 2014- two years to wait for another consultation appointment. The situation is desperate, but no one at the dental hospital seems to understand this. I do not have the time and money to waste on this, please could you sort this out ASAP.

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Responses

Response from Birmingham Dental Hospital 10 years ago
Birmingham Dental Hospital
Submitted on 18/02/2014 at 10:55
Published on nhs.uk on 19/02/2014 at 03:00


Your feedback has been shared with colleagues in the restorative and orthodontic services and I am aware you have separately emailed with more detail to allow this matter to be looked into. I am sorry you have experienced a long wait for treatment and hope that having brought this to our attention we can now resolve the matter.

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