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Managing NHS Scotland claim errors 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
Managing NHS Scotland claim errors 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

How to deal with NHS Scotland claim errors 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Shelley Withington avatar
Written by Shelley Withington
Updated this week

What happens after I submit my NHS claim

Dentally does simple checks on NHS claims before sending them to NHS Scotland - Including but not limited to:

  • Check Provider Pin and Details

  • Practice Details

  • Datasets Information

These checks happen as soon as you submit your claim and if any errors are found this will notify you via the notifications bell in Dentally.


I have a claim error, what do I do?

Any incorrect claims will update with an 'Error' status that will tell you what needs to be actioned. Make sure you check the NHS.scot website here to investigate the error message you've received before reaching out to Ellie and the support team for further guidance.

To see all error codes and explanations in full you can use the claims report.

To view an individual patient's claims error, navigate to their patient record and click on their 'NHS' tab. Under the 'Claims' tab you will be able to see the full explanations and from here you can work out what information is incorrect.

The general rule of thumb is that NHS errors will appear in Red & NHS queries will appear in Yellow, its important to note that:

  • Errors can be resubmitted and resolved by following the guidance on the NHS website.

  • Queries may require further investigation. The response should explain what needs to be rectified. However, if the response is not clear on what must be changed please contact the NHS Practitioner services first and then reach out to Ellie and the support team for further guidance if needed.


XML validation errors

As part of the process for sending a claim or prior approval, the information is turned into a special document format called XML. Before Dentally sends this information, it runs it past a piece of software that makes sure it looks correct.

XML errors will always say they are XML errors. Dentally has tried hard to make the error message clear so that you can work out what you need to do.

For example here the CHI number is too long. You will need to search for the CHI number again on the patients details screen.

One of the common XML errors we see is "postcode is invalid". When you see this you need to check the patient’s postcode AND the postcode for the patient’s representative, if you have entered one.


How to view claim errors

An error message usually has a code associated with it. When on your NHS claims report simply hover your mouse over the details and it will open up a tooltip displaying the full message on the screen.

To see it in full without the tooltip pop-up, It is often easier to go to a patient's 'NHS' tab, then the 'Claims' tab to see the error message in full. The error message always has an error code, followed by a full explanation.

Make sure to reference the NHS's guide to figure out how to resolve your error. Please reach out to Ellie and the support team for further guidance in resolving this error if you are unsure.


Multiple errors on one claim

On rare occasions, you may find that there is more than one error on a claim. In this case, each error will be listed.

Work through correcting all the errors in one go and submit again once all have been resolved.

Each individual error will start with an error code, such as E000623 above. The error may refer to a particular treatment code on the plan, for example, in the image above, Error E000682 refers to treatment 1426.

Please reference the NHS help guide here to investigate your error codes further if needed.

🚨 Important: You can only submit a claim 10 times before it will be permanently rejected! If you are getting anywhere close to the limit, please contact Ellie and the Dentally Support Team for help and advice.


eDental error message

Occasionally you may see an eDental error message. This usually means that the eDental service is unavailable.

You will need to submit these claims again once the eDental service has been restored.


After correcting my claim

Once a claim has been successfully sent, received and approved by the NHS, the claim status will update in Dentally on the next reconciliation file/schedule.

The schedule is supplied by the NHS usually between the 15th-22nd each month (Subject to weekends).

The status will change to 'Complete' against all accepted claims once this schedule has been received.

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