If you are unable to keep your appointment, please give us as much notice as possible so that we can offer the time slot to another patient on our waiting list.
“Failure to attend” means any of the following
Not arriving for an appointment
Arriving late for an appointment
Not giving enough notice of not being able to attend*
*We require 48 hours’ notice of cancellation.
Every year we lose valuable time because of patients failing to attend their appointments, or cancelling at short notice. This make it more difficult for us to accommodate our patients in need of urgent treatment, for existing patients to book appointments and for new patients to register with us. It also cost the surgery a considerable amount of money.
Patients who fail to attend 2 NHS appointments are likely to not be offered any further NHS appointments, in line with NHS regulations but if they wish to remain a patient with us they can be seen on a private basis. (Missed appointments do not have to be consecutive.) If there are extenuating circumstances, we may be able to allow one further opportunity to attend, however this is at the discretion of the Practice Manager.
If you miss a NHS appointment on a Saturday we will no longer be able to offer you any more Saturdays. You will be able to be seen on a private basis if you wish to remain a patient and want to book for Saturdays.
Text reminders are available for all appointments on request. If we have your mobile phone number on file, a reminder text can be sent to you a few days before your appointment. All text messages sent by our system are logged when successfully sent. It is your responsibility to check your text messages and to ensure that we are informed of any changes to your mobile number. We will assume that you have received your reminder if it has been logged as successfully sent.
As with all medical facilities, we aim to see our patients on time but due to the nature of health care, this is not always possible. However, if a patient turns up late for their appointment so that treatment cannot be carried out, this will be regarded as failing to attend.
For all private treatment including our hygienist we take a 50% deposit of the total. If you fail to attend your appointment or cancel with short notice this deposit will be charged. It is your responsibility to give us 48 hours notice.