Expensive, inefficient and poor service
Despite taking payment in advance, Lura Care have failed to provide the required treatment (a root filling and oral hygiene cleaning) to a friend in a residential home whose affairs we manage. We paid in early September as a date was booked for early October but then cancelled. We heard nothing until I chased it at the start of November and was told they were ‘extremely busy’ and the treatment would be scheduled. Since then I’ve heard nothing.
In addition to this very poor service, when they first inspected my friend’s teeth they recommended a removable partial denture at a cost of £940. It should have been obvious to them that the gaps they were planning to fill have been there for years and my friend therefore chose not to do anything about them when he was able. Now he’s had two strokes, can’t speak and has to take soft food and liquids only. I was shocked that Lura Care could make such a proposal in the circumstances! In addition, the cleaning charge is £168 which seems excessive, almost double what I pay at my dentist.
It seems to me that they are profiteering off a situation where residential and care homes struggle to get dental care for their residents. Quite appalling.
Reply from Lura Care
Thank you for this message LoveWalking. I believe that, in many cases, there is a misunderstanding of our service and how we provide assessments and outcomes. Lura Care is by all means not "profiteering off a situation where care homes struggle to get dental care". (We do not provide our service to Residential homes) Lura Care provides a very adapted service to meet the needs of residents who cannot access a dentist even in urgent cases. The treatment plans and quotations are suggestions to improve the quality of life of residents, no matter their condition! A stroke patient is by no means restricted to a soft/liquid diet and can in many cases be able to chew. This may not be the case of your friend, however this is what the assessment is for, to determine what the possibilities could be to improve the patients quality of life. The suggestions are completely NON OBLIGATORY so no, Lura Care is not benefiting, we are giving Choice. If agreed to, the service is provided at the pace and comfort of the patient in their safe environment. This means that 1 treatment could take multiple visits, at no additional charges. If the treatment is not completed due to various reasons, Lura Care refunds the amount of the treatment that could not be done. Hence not profiteering in any way. The pricing may sound excessive, however if you take into consideration your amount of just a check up at your local dental practice, Lura Care provides this FREE OF CHARGE. And if you take into account your cost for an oral hygiene, add your travel rate to and from the clinic and time out of your day which may incur taking time off work, not to mention should you need to make multiple visits, the costs add up on just that 1 treatment. As previously mentioned, no additional charges are applied for Lura Care to make multiple visits which often has our dentists travelling over 4-5 hours to meet the needs of many residents in a number of care homes in just 1 day. As a Private Healthcare Provider and Domiciliary service onsite to residents, we try to prevent the moving and handling transfers to and from dental clinics, particularly for a stroke patient, in your case, would be a nightmare for all involved, and add those costs to your time to make these arrangements.
Lura Care is providing a solution to the crisis of oral health in the UK... We are also inundated with meeting the needs of so many people who are in pain and unnecessary suffering that can be prevented, and often we even disregard the fact that we are not an emergency call out service simply because as a company we are compassionate and go the extra mile. This is rare for most healthcare providers. We aim to always care for the person and not the money.
I hope that this response satisfies your misrepresentation of our service. I wish you health and pain free smiles.