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Rachel was entitled to free treatment – but her family was fined £ 160 after a visit to the dentist.
"I panicked, I did not know what to do," said Trisha Costello, who was fined £ 160 after her daughter was examined by the dentist.
This is one of 1.7 million fines imposed in England since 2014 for dental care or prescriptions that were canceled when they were challenged, according to a National survey. Audit Office.
These were people wrongly accused of fraudulently claiming free treatment.
An NHS spokeswoman admitted that there could be a "confusion" about the eligibility rules.
The British Dental Association said that there was "no excuse" for so many "innocent people" to deal with such threats.
"Useless distress"
The National Audit Office examined fears of fines being imposed on people who claimed free treatment, including visits to the dentist, while they were actually eligible.
The public expenditure watchdog, which has been reviewing the penalty notices since 2014, found that 30% of the fines imposed had been withdrawn, which amounted to £ 188 million of misdirected fines.
Dentists warned that it was often vulnerable people, such as people with learning disabilities and disabilities, low-income people or caregivers bringing in parents with dementia who were caught in the fine system.
"This system is not working as it should," said Meg Hillier, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee.
"The NHS must take urgent action if it wants to avoid causing unnecessary distress to patients, caused by an overly complex system, which end up in the face of heavy fines."
Charlotte Waite says vulnerable families face unjustly the threat of fines
Charlotte Waite, of the British Dental Association, said: "England has a system based on a presumption of guilt, which offers few benchmarks and leaves vulnerable patients prosecuted by debt collection agencies."
The BDA warned that many people threatened with fines would pay rather than challenge them, even though they were entitled to free care.
He pointed out that many of the bad fines were the result of simple mistakes or confusions when filling out forms.
The dentists' organization said the fear of fines had prevented the poor from going to the dentist – visits by low-income patients dropped nearly a quarter.
"They really scared me"
"We were accused of fraud." When I called the number of the letter and explained the situation, they simply replied, "No, no, you owe this money. Take out your credit card, "explains Trisha Costello.
The North London family was fined £ 160 after her teenage daughter Rachel went for a dental exam.
Rachel had significant learning difficulties and was studying full time – and was free to pay for her treatment.
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But her father, who brought her to the dentist, ticked a bad box in the eligibility form.
Without further verification, they were fined.
Trisha said that cheating a cheater was deeply upsetting. "They really scared me, I was upset, furious, I felt threatened.
"It's a blatant injustice for people who can afford it, they are usually people who are struggling."
The family was assisted by a local health care organization, who intervened, presented proof of eligibility and canceled the penalty.
But Trisha fears that "some people feel mistreated" to pay.
The National Audit Office also raises the question of how much money in the fine system goes to the NHS.
An analysis carried out in 2018-2019 showed that fines of around £ 199 million had been imposed – but only £ 33 million had been paid to date, of which £ 46 million for exempted but convicted persons a fine, £ 18 million canceled and 101 million unpaid.
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There were also administrative costs – accounting for 31% of the money recovered.
The subcontracting firm Capita was used for depreciation and debt collection for dental treatments.
The National Audit Office stated that Capita retained 100% of the fines and surcharges, with the NHS receiving the value of the treatment.
If the fines are not paid, another Capita Group company is used as a collection agent, retaining nearly half of the money recovered. The contract is expected to end in December.
"All the policies and procedures we follow are those of the NHS at every stage," said a spokeswoman for Capita.
The fine system aims to deter fraud: about 47% of dental treatments and 89% of prescription items go to people who should be exempt.
And the report shows the extent of the problem of fraud in the NHS, with total annual losses of "corruption, fraud, corruption" of £ 1.27 billion.
Brendan Brown of the NHS Business Services Authority said the right to treatment rules could be "complicated to understand" and that we recognize that real mistakes and confusion are occurring ".
"We strongly believe in the need to educate patients and eliminate mistakes so that we can effectively fight against deliberate fraud," said Mr. Brown.
"We recognize that understanding eligibility can be even more difficult for vulnerable people, so we have invested a lot of time and effort to create additional support."
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