Practice Appointment Policy

Our Practice Policy on missed or late cancelled appointments and failure to return for treatment

Every year we lose valuable surgery time because of patients failing to attend their appointments, or cancelling at short notice. We understand that things do happen from time to time which stops patients attending pre booked appointments. However this makes it more difficult for us to accommodate our patients in need of urgent treatment and for existing patients to book treatment appointments. As such we have in follow attendance policy in place.

Private Patients

Patients who are unable to make their appointment because of illness should, where possible, please contact the practice as soon as they are aware that they cannot attend. If you are unsure whether you can make it to an appointment, please contact us early to discuss the matter rather than leaving it to the last minute. Failing to notify us before the appointment time will result in a failure to attend charge being made unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Late cancellation/missed appointment charges from £20.00 will apply if an appointment is cancelled within 24 hours. Where a consultation with a dentist has been booked a charge from £50.00 will be applicable.

We understand that scenarios do occur and discretion will be used if there is a good reason for the appointment being missed.

Denplan Patients

The missed appointment fees which apply to our Private Patients, as stated above, will also apply to all Denplan Patients.

Please refer to your Denplan Care or Denplan Essentials Handbook under ‘The Care/Essentials Contract between you and your dentist’ (Point 10):

“You are responsible for keeping appointments made with your dentist and you must pay any missed appointment fee should you fail to do so. You must ensure that you also attend your dentist for regular examinations, receive the treatment your dentist advises and you must promptly inform you dentist of any injury, problem or other material matter affecting your oral health. If you fail to ensure any of this you will be liable to pay any fee reasonably charged for treatment necessary to restore your oral health, which could otherwise have been avoided.”

NHS Patients

If you fail to attend your NHS appointment you will be offered a further appointment and will not be charged. If you fail to attend or late cancel or arrive too late to be seen for a second time in a 12 months period, you will not be offered any further appointments

If you fail to return for a treatment appointment, you may not be eligible for further NHS treatment in the future. We will always ensure that you are given a “reasonable time period” for which to contact the practice to book or re book these appointments. We will also do our upmost to contact you to try to arrange this appointment. Contact will be via phone, text or email. The maximum time allowed for this will be 2 months from the date of your examination.

If you attend for the treatment recommended, the fee for the band 2 or 3 treatment will be maintained, and no additional fee applies.

If you fail to attend for a scale and polish or treatment appointment, your open course of treatment will be closed with immediate effect, as this is classed as failed to return. Should you then wish to attend for this treatment at a later date, a new course of treatment will be entered into, and the full band 1 fee will be applicable again.

If you fail to attend for subsequent appointments, despite having been contacted, the above failed to attend procedure will be followed, and your right to any further NHS treatment with the practice will be withdrawn.

Failure to correctly declare exemptions

Patients are advised, by documentation on our screens and website, that failure to  correctly declare their exemption may result in a fine directly from the NHS, along with having to pay the full charge of the treatment.

Patients are therefore encouraged to correctly declare to staff, with  proof, any exemptions they are entitled to.

Patients are responsible for ensuring they declare their exemptions correctly, Newby dental practice is not responsible for this declaration.

This is based on advice and guidance from NHS England and documentation can be found in our waiting room.

Reminders

Email and text reminders are available for appointments. If we have your contact information on file, we will always try to provide a reminder text and or email 24 hours in advance of your appointment. It is your responsibility to check your phones (Home/ Work/ Mobile if provided) for missed calls/texts and emails. Likewise it is your responsibility to ensure that we are informed of any changes to your contact information.

It is your responsibility to turn up on time for an appointment. Failure of the reminder system for any reason is not sufficient reason for failing to attend or turning up too late for treatment.

Arriving late

If you arrive more than 10 minutes late for a scheduled appointment, the dentist, therapist or hygienist may not be able to see you. This is because we run to an appointment book, and if we do not have long enough to complete the planned treatment, it is better to reschedule this appointment, to ensure the treatment can be provided as planned. If you think you may be late for an appointment, it is advised that you call to check whether the appointment might be better rescheduled.