159.
The Secretary for the Civil Service considered that, as a general rule, officers could not be expected to have known precisely what dental work was performed on them and that it would therefore be wrong to hold them personally responsible for errors which were found as a result of clinical examinations. Consequently, the Secretary did not consider it appropriate to take action under civil service disciplinary procedures in respect of such cases. The Secretary also reached the view that it would not be appropriate to seek recovery of money from officers in respect of discrepancies between the dental work charged for by the dentist and the dental work actually carried out by him as verified by subsequent clinical examination.
160.
The Secretary for the Civil Service stated that a small number of dentists (less than ten) appeared to have failed to take care to ensure that treatment forms were completed accurately, and to advise officers that particular types of treatment required prior approval from the Government Consultant Dental Surgeon, a fact which had been drawn clearly to dentists' attention at the outset of the scheme. The Administration is considering what action, if any, should be taken in respect of such dentists. Reference to the Dental Council may be appropriate where there is definite evidence of unethical practice or treatment prejudicial to the dental health of patients.
161.
The Secretary for the Civil Service concluded that to the extent that the private dental treatment scheme enabled many civil servants and their dependants to obtain necessary dental treatment, the scheme could be counted a success because the Government Dental Service could not have provided all this treatment within the life span of the scheme. However, the scheme did give rise to considerable administrative problems, and certain irregularities emerged as a result but the Secretary commented that the great majority of civil servants who utilized the scheme did so honestly and properly and that the investigation of doubtful cases had discovered no real evidence of fraud on the part of civil servants; most of the irregularities arose through non-compliance with, or the misunderstanding of, the rules of the scheme on the part of some civil servants and a few dentists.
162.
Apart from a few orthodontic claims, for which the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council gave special permission for treatment to continue beyond the closing date of the scheme (31 May 1983), all claims have now been dealt with. Altogether 114,954 claims were received of which 114,423 were reimbursed and 531
rejected. Reimbursements under the scheme up to 31 March 1985 totalled $161 million.
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