It is the aim of this practice to provide quality dental care to our patients and to use clinical time effectively. To achieve this aim, we have an appointment management and cancellation policy.

Management of appointments
Our appointment system supports timely access to care and treatment, allows patients to access services at a time that suits them and minimises the length of time people have to wait. Appointments can be made or rescheduled by calling our dedicated appointments line on 01723 890719.

Reminders
E-mail/Text/Postal reminders are sent to patients 3 days before any appointment and patients are requested to inform the practice of any changes to their contact details.

Cancellation or delay of an appointment by the practice
We will only cancel or delay a patient’s appointment in unavoidable circumstances. In such cases, we will take the following steps:
▪ The patient will be contacted as soon as the practice is aware of the need to cancel or delay the appointment. We will explain the reason for the cancellation or delay
▪ At the time of contact, the patient will be offered a new appointment at the earliest time available
▪ If the patient is unable to commit to a new appointment during that contact, we will ask them to get in touch at a later time, when we will offer them a priority appointment

Cancellation of an appointment or missed appointment by a patient
Patients are requested to give at least 24 hours’ notice to cancel a dental appointment. Cancellations should be made by telephone on: 01723 890719. Late cancellations and missed appointments may represent a cost to the practice, when other patients could have been seen in the time set aside for the patient.
We do not make a charge for NHS patients for a late cancellation or missed appointment. However, we reserve the right to ask a patient to find another dental practice if they continue to miss or cancel appointments. If more than two NHS dental appointments are missed or cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice, we do not guarantee being able to complete a patient’s NHS treatment or offer them NHS treatment in the future. There is a fee for private dental appointments that are missed or cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice. The fee is based on the length of the appointment.

Regular Attendees and Registrations
It is our aim to contact patients after a missed appointment to understand the reason for non-attendance and to inform them about any fee or decision about their NHS dental care. We understand that cancellations are sometimes unavoidable due to illness or emergencies and we will take account of all valid circumstances.

Late Arrivals
If you arrive more than 10 minutes late for a scheduled appointment, the dentist or therapist may not be able to see you. This is because we may not have long enough to complete the planned treatment and 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.Any appeals about missed or cancelled appointment decisions by a patient should be made in writing to the Practice Manager, Jane Ross