NHS Business Services Penalty Charge waiver refused

[wildfirejc]

I went to a local dentist a year ago to register for a check-up as I had diabetes. I was asked by the lady who registered me if I was entitled to free dental - I told her I didn't know but showed her my NHS Medical Exemption card - and she took it down and gave me a form to sign. She said it was for free dental treatment. I believed her and signed the form but didn't date it or ticked the box - because I didn't see any box - except one that said NHS Tax Credit Exemption. Anyway, a year later, I had another dental appointment and this time, the registration lady gave me the form to sign again. I signed but once again, didn't tick or date it. Then a few months ago, I had a penalty letter from NHSBSA. They wanted £56.30 for the second treatment and £100 penalty. I went to my dentist and the owner said it's not their responsibility to ensure I was entitled to free dental treatment. I asked to see the forms I signed - and was surprised that the second form was submitted with a date and a tick at the wrong box. The first form was actually rejected by NHS when the dental surgery had sent it in for reimbursement - because we discovered (the owner and I) that the form was submitted without it being ticked or dated.

So I complained went through two stages and the CEO still came back with pay the £100 penalty (I had since paid the £56.30). Now, my question is, if I signed a form incorrectly but did not choose any of the boxes to tick or even date the form, is it considered legal?

When I asked for copies of the forms from the dentist, she refused to give them to me - however, subsequent to my complaints being handled by NHSBSA, the owner agreed to let me have copies - so when I went to get them - I noticed that the first form which didn't have a tick or date - has now been both ticked and dated - by the dentist himself.

Now, I am in a dilemma - if I pay the £100 penalty - am I expected to pay another £100 penalty for the first form which the dentist will no doubt submit to NHS for payment?

I think it very dishonest of the dentist to do so. After telling them about the penalty, they should not have submitted the first form to NHS and made the tick and date themselves.

What are the chances of me going on to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman?

Any legal advice will be much appreciated.

[Claireb5]

I can't give you any legal advice however I had a similar experience and received a fine/PCN for £100!

I feel that mistakes are very easy to make in these situations and I do feel that dental receptionists confuse patients by shoving forms in their faces, not explaining what the forms are for whilst rushing patients to sign them often as they're being called in for their appointment by the dentist. My dentist even have an iPad system of filling in the forms and the iPads crash every single time, so now I've noticed that the receptionists fill in the form on behalf of the patient and just pass the iPad back to them to sign a box on the screen?

Anyway, back to my experience: I wrote to the NHSBSA and said I wanted to appeal against the fine due to my genuine mistake. They said I could not appeal as appeals aren't allowed for mistakes made by patients! I wrote back to them and said that I am not liable to pay the fine of £100 for a mistake. I also pointed out that by effectively not having an appropriate appeals procedure to consider my evidence of this mistake, they were denying me the opportunity under the NHS Penalty Charge Regulations (1999) to “show that I did not act wrongfully, or with any lack of care” meaning that I am not liable to pay the penalty charge. In addition, I said that I believe that the £100 penalty charge is excessive and could be deemed to ‘enrich’ rather than cover costs/losses (such as the cost of producing a PCN letter and postage) in relation to my mistake"

I offered to pay a reasonable amount for the letter they sent me and I paid my band 1 treatment fee £21.60 to them by bacs (not cheque). I also told them to take me to court so a judge can decide if this seems fair! I heard nothing from them and a couple of months later they refunded my Band 1 fee that I had paid. I'm not sure how to interpret that, but if they are not willing to let me pay what they say I owe then I assume that a court would't agree with them that I owe such a large fine. I believe their whole procedure to be flawed and I do not believe *in my personal opinion only*, that a court would find most of these PCNs lawful.

[Claireb5]

In relation to your point below - I'm not sure if the dental practice could submit this so late after treatment (would that be 2 years ago?). But If you feel they may and that another PCN for £100 could be issued you could pay the treatment charge of £56.30 to the dental practice and let them know not to submit the NHS form as you made a mistake and are correcting it now - and keep the receipt of the payment.


"Now, I am in a dilemma - if I pay the £100 penalty - am I expected to pay another £100 penalty for the first form which the dentist will no doubt submit to NHS for payment?"

[MIKE770]

pay it or you end up paying more! my wife was on £1.48 pence a week so we stated allowed to be told sorry wrong benefit so fined £75 out of my £110 pension, they could not give a dam , pay or pay extra, by the way to sign on bus fare was £2.48 return every week, gave up and then claimed pension credit and then that silly insult stopped and we received £19 a week? rip off dental too many different job seekers rubbish and misleading wording/