Covid Price Increases

[xfeelingthis]

Hi folks, dentist here. The reason PPE charge is so expensive is the PPE itself can be expensive and hard to source, times 2 for dentist and nurse, but also there’s the fact that after anything involving aerosols - air so even drying teeth for a check up - the surgery has to be left empty and then fully disinfected. Our fallow time is an hour, that can be more depending on the airflow in a surgery. So while it might be a 20 minute appointment for you in the chair, it’s really 1 hour 40 or so between donning the PPE, appointment, fallow time then full surgery disinfection It’s a total nightmare. I’m an NHS dentist so we’re a bit different but where we could previously see 20+ patients a day we’d now be lucky to see 6 if aerosols are involved. Dental practices are businesses and at the minute a lot of them are hugely struggling, so many having to let staff go and running the risk of bankruptcy, especially those that do majority private work. So the term “PPE charge” is maybe a bit misleading as it isn’t just the cost of the PPE itself that’s the problem. I wish the government would share this about a bit more readily rather than everyone assuming that dentists are trying to profiteer from the situation. Not to say there aren’t a few bad eggs as with everything but I know the vast majority are good dentists who aren’t trying to rip people off. They’re just trying to stay afloat.

 

[Yel]

Anyone else noticed huge increases in some places?

The dentist now has an £80 covid supplement fee
Swimming was £4.80 and now £8! Limited to 50 minutes and you have to book in advance.

Hairdressers you understand the small additional fee, others seem to have added huge amounts on.

 

[emmer_moans]

40 quid for PPE per patient though, that's extortionate! 5 or 10 pounds maybe, but 40?!

 

[Topher]

It’s not just retail price that’s gone up. I’m a florist and prices are hideous at the moment! Something I’d usually buy for 50p is now more than double cost! That has a huge knock on effect on the retail price. That 50p stem would usually retail at £1.50, but now would be £3 if I were to work on a standard markup of x3. It’s a nightmare! Add in a post Brexit import surcharge and I’ll be out of business. Not fun times

 

[kev1974]

Anyone else noticed huge increases in some places?

The dentist now has an £80 covid supplement fee
Swimming was £4.80 and now £8! Limited to 50 minutes and you have to book in advance.

Hairdressers you understand the small additional fee, others seem to have added huge amounts on.

I've heard of dentists that are now applying a £20 - £40 ppe surcharge, but £80 is the worst yet. Is that per appointment or per course of treatment?

Ridiculous, the UK is going to have such bad teeth for decades to come.

 

[xfeelingthis]

@Interestingbitsnbats - sorry to hear that. Prevention in dentistry is the main thing so if you’re vigilant with your oral hygiene and your diet then you shouldn’t get problems. Make sure you’re brushing 2-3 times a day on a dry toothbrush using a fluoride toothpaste (don’t wet the brush or paste) for around 2 mins 30, when done spit the foam out and don’t rinse your mouth with mouthwash or water (that would rinse the fluoride out). Diet wise tooth decay is caused by sugar so you always want to watch your consumption of high sugar foods - obvious culprits fizzy juice, sweets, chocolate, cakes, biscuits, alcohols. Sure you know all this anyways

@emmer_moans no problem. I get why it’s so frustrating for people because they don’t realise that we aren’t using the same PPE as normal (normal masks don’t cut it unless you’re just looking with no aerosols) and how much our capacity is reduced so I like spreading the word. People tend to be really understand when they get a simple explanation.

@DigiDuino That sounds about right to be fair. It depends what you’re getting done tbh on how urgent it is but it looks like this is here to stay for a very long time. We don’t foresee normal NHS dentistry this side of Christmas and I’ve heard rumours the dental students are getting taught to do drilling procedures on phantom heads while wearing full PPE which would indicate the higher ups expect them to be doing so after graduation We honestly get such little information though, we found out the same time as the public when we were going to be allowed to start seeing patients in practice and again when we could start doing minimal AGPs during the First Minister’s briefing!

I know there are so many other sectors in terrible positions and lots of people just generally having an awful time but yeah, things are not rosy in dentistry. Who knows if it will ever be quite the same

 

[kev1974]

What the ...?! That's quite a surcharge! Are you saying that on top of the usual check up price you have to pay another 20-40?!

Yes, as far as I've seen all private dentists are applying large PPE surcharges now, NHS ones are not supposed to but some seem to be.

That's if you can actually find an NHS dentist that's even open at all, none of them are doing routine stuff like check ups yet, just emergency stuff where the patient is in actual pain

 

[svdwoodsen]

Basics like butter and some produce have almost doubled here! I get that a lot of that isn't local and needs to be shipped so people have extra costs and steps for sanitizing and such, but it's pretty crazy given how many people have been furloughed or lost their jobs, and prices for essentials are going up. Economy is pretty weak as well so I have no idea how sustainable this will be. Not to mention, our cases have crept back up to May/June levels so we may enter lockdown again, meaning many people will stop earning a wage.

 

[kev1974]

Yes absolutely. There's quite a few things that I buy repeatedly on Amazon for work, and they make it very easy to click back and see earlier orders for the same items, and everything costs quite a lot more than a year ago.

 

[Onthehop]

I paid £40 for PPE at the dentist this week.

 

[rainbowlemon]

You could easily buy a simple box of 50 surgical masks from Medisave for only £2.99 in feb last year. When I was back in London I saw a single box of the same quantity being sold for £34.00 from a high street store. Then there's usually also the gloves too and the plastic aprons. Some of the doctors at my hospital also wear plastic visors on top- so I can imagine how it can add up. The N95 masks are even more pricier close to £2 each. £40 does seem excessive but you also have a dental nurse too for every patient. I've never seen a dentist on her own.

 

[xfeelingthis]

Re dentists, I went last week for check up and hygienist visit. Check was £77.50 up from £60.00 (six months ago) and hygienist was £75.00 up from from £60.00 (Six months ago) There was no mention of the PPE costs I think it has just been automatically built in. It’s a lot of money but TBH I was happy to get an appointment and come away with no work needing to be done. The backlogs for actual dental work are huge.

Well done you for not needing work done!
The backlog is absolutely crazy. I work in a deprived area so lots of dental neglect and subsequent problems and it’s actually insane the list we have, and that’s only people who have been symptomatic... lots of dental problems aren’t picked up until we do exams as things don’t often get painful until they’re advanced Gives me so much anxiety if I let myself think too much about it!

 

[erin182]

Ooh I haven’t noticed an increase in the price of anything tbh

 

[eSsExBiRd]

40 quid for PPE per patient though, that's extortionate! 5 or 10 pounds maybe, but 40?!

£120 for my family - Fuck that, I’ll take some with me that they can wear. Mine always wore PPE anyway, disposable gloves, gown and mask. She also wore a visor.

Seriously, it can’t cost that much? All NHS dentists here are attached to a private surgery so feeling rather cynical.

 

[TJ90]

I dread to think how much my Dentist will surcharge, it's not NHS so it's going to be shitloads.

Mine isn’t NHS - I go to a private one and surprisingly they haven’t charged me any extra

I did the food shop the other day and said to my husband how much more I’d spent even in places like Home Bargains that what I’d normally spend (I go there for toiletries and cleaning products) food wise Morrison’s has also gone up a lot in price

 

[Prodcon21]

Can’t put my finger on individual items - but my weekly shop is definitely more expensive.

I think they’ve started doing it again (could be wrong as I stopped giving them my custom when they did it!) but Asda removed the 3 for £10 from their meat and fish which pushed the price up x

 

[MaxieMoo]

Celebrations, heroes, roses and quality street were £3.50 each in Tesco about a fortnight ago, I stocked up!

Me too..... but will they last 'til Christmas

 

[chocolate choux]

The dentist PPE surcharge won’t affect me as there’s an extreme shortage of dentists in my area, none have been accepting new patients for well over a year and I’ve been on “3 month waiting list”s for 18 months now...

I noticed a few items in shops are getting more expensive. It’s very concerning, coupled with Brexit things could end up really bad here

 

[openbook1]

Yes, I have! Even my hairdresser - you’d have highlights done and the cut and blow dry would be included in the price. Not anymore. You have to pay extra.

Wow. You are lucky. Lol. My hairdresser has never included the cut and blow-dry with highlights. It is separate and totals close to $300+ and that isn't with a tip - tips are a big deal here.

Thankfully my benefits cover the dentist cost 100% - they are way more expensive than UK ones, I think. For example, seeing the dentist which includes Xrays (which is once a year), and then having the cleaning done would cost upwards of $800 without benefits, sometimes close to $900. We are very lucky to have 100% coverage, many people do not even have 50%. My dentist is not charging extra for PPE which is good of them.

 

[Happy Lady]

Yep, I've noticed our weekly shop has rocketted in price. Picked up some bath bubbles usually £1 now cost £1:20. Fruit and veg has increased too.

Only food not increased is fresh meat from the local farm shop.