Our Practice Cancellation Policy

If your appointment time becomes inconvenient for you, we are always happy to change it if you provide us with two business days notice. This allows us to schedule in a patient who may be in urgent need of our care.

Missed appointments and late cancellations represent a cost to the practice, to you and to other patients who could have been seen in the time set aside for you.

Failed appointments can sometimes interfere with dental treatment and create unnecessary scheduling problems for other patients.

We strive to accommodate the appointment needs of our patients, and make every effort to keep on time for appointments scheduled.

Failure to provide us with two business days advance notice or failure to present for a scheduled appointment will result in a cancellation or no show fee. This fee will equate to 50% of the treatment and clinical time lost.

It is understandable that sometimes cancellations cannot be helped due to illness or emergency and we will take all valid circumstances into account.

Our goal in communicating our cancellation and failed to attend policy is to avoid any extra charges being passed on to the patient.

We Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Booking Policy

The appropriate deposit is payable at the time of booking, appointments cannot be held without a deposit and may be offered to other patients. A fully refundable deposit is required for all appointments with our dental specialists and hygienists. The deposit secures the booking and is non-refundable if the cancellation policy is not adhered.

For any appointments we will require a 50% deposit of the treatment fee.

All accounts are to be settled prior to leaving the clinic by credit/debit card or cash.

Policy for Non- Attendance NHS Patients

Failed Appointment fees must be settled before any other appointment is offered. Please note that we cannot accept notice of cancellation by e-mail or text message as these are not screened daily.

Definition of ‘failure to attend’ (FTA): Patients that have missed or have not cancelled/ rescheduled 48 hours in advance of their pre-booked appointment (exceptional circumstances are at the discretion of the practice). Under the National Health (Dental Charges) Regulations 2005 (Section 3) the practice will not be able to charge patients for failing to attend appointments.

All failures to attend will be documented in the patient file/record.

A 1st failure to attend- will result in a written or verbal communication being given. The patient will be given the opportunity to rebook the appointment. They will also be advised by reception staff that in accordance with PCT policy and General Dental Service Regulations 2005, Schedule 3 Part 1 (5), they risk refusal of completion of the NHS course of treatment if they miss their next appointment.

A 2nd failure to attend- If a patient continually fails to attend appointments and misses 2 or more appointments, given less than 48 hours notice, “the practice may feel this constitutes and irrevocable breakdown in relations”. Under the NHS (General Dental Services) Regulations 2005, Schedule 3 Part 1 (5) and the patient may therefore be refused further NHS treatment at the practice.

Purley Dental Practice Ltd reserves the right to refuse further treatment to patients who fail to attend two or more appointments. This would potentially mean their removal from the practice registration list.

Policy for Non- Attendance Private and Plan Patients

If a patient has difficulty in attending pre-booked appointments, we suggest that patients contact Purley Dental Practice giving 48 business hours notice. We will try to offer you the nearest available appointment for that day assuming availability exists or another day.

To book further appointments (e.g. treatment is necessary after initial examination), our practice reserves the right to ask for a reservation deposit for private and plan appointments with our dentist.  This fee will be deductibile from the total cost of the treatment. In case your treatment involves dental laboratory work, we may ask for a minimum of 50% deposit for private and plan appointments with our dentist, which will be forfeited in the event of failure to attend as outlined above. Failure to give the appropriate notice of cancellation will result in a Failed Appointment Fee, meaning that the deposit for your appointment reservation will become non-refundable and it will be used to cover the cost of the surgery time. You will also need to pay any other additional laboratory fees incurred (when the reservation deposit doesn’t cover all costs), the final decision being at the discretion of the Practice owner.

If more than 2 appointments are missed, future appointments for private patients may not be offered.

It is understandable that sometimes cancellations cannot be helped due to emergencies and we will take all valid circumstances into account.
Our goal in communicating our cancellation and failed to attend policy is to avoid any extra charges being passed on to the patient.

As clinical time has been reserved exclusively for you, for all our registered Private Patients who attend a Hygienist appointment will need to pay a reservation deposit which is half of the hygienist fee. If you need to change the appointment, we require at least 2 working days notice (for more complex cases there maybe longer notice required please – see full terms and conditions of your treatment plan). A deposit will not be refunded without the required notice. For a non Practice Plan registered patient (private), if a Hygienist appointment is cancelled by the patient at short notice (less than 48h notice) or missed, then this payment will be lost, and a new fee will need to be paid before a new appointment can be booked.

For DPAS plan patients, if a Hygienist appointment or a dental check-up are missed, no charge will apply; where appropriate, a second chance for re-booking will be offered (to meet that year’s Plan benefits), but any subsequent Hygienist/dental check-ups appointments missed will incur a charge of the entire appointment fee, paid in advance.

Patients who are not registered as regular dental patients with a dentist will be required to pay the full fee of a dental check-up or emergency dental appointment prior to seeing the dentist and the full hygienist appointment fee prior to seeing the hygienist. We regret that treatment will only be given to patients with up to date accounts. If a new patient fails to attend their 1st appointment we reserve the right to refuse further appointments at our practice and the full fee paid in advance will be non-refundable.

Patients with any outstanding fees that have not been paid may not be seen for a further appointment until the balance is paid in full.

If, for any reason, you decide that you no longer wish to continue a planned treatment Purley Dental Practice please be aware that you will be charged for any treatment completed by the clinician or laboratory technician.

Treatment plans are estimates and we will endeavour to inform you should the charges change once the treatment plan has started. Additional procedures will be carried out if essential and in the best interest of the patient.

Estimates are valid for three months from the date of the treatment plan.

Short notice cancellation/ late arrival

We understand that some patients travel long distances to get to the clinic, and in some cases being late for appointments can be unavoidable. Patients arriving more than 10 minutes late for a Dentist or Hygienist appointment may be requested to reschedule their appointment as it would be difficult to fit their appointment in without the dentist/hygienist/therapist running late for other patients.

Cancelling at short notice makes it very difficult to offer your appointment to other patients in need, preventing them from utilising that time and costs the practice money. It is the dentist’s prerogative to remove from his or her list anyone who has a poor attendance or short notice cancellation history.

Due to the uncertainty of offering personalised healthcare treatment, occasionally our appointments can over-run. The team at Purley Dental Practice recognise the value of your time and work hard to ensure your appointment is punctual. However in circumstances beyond our control, Purley Dental Practice may be required to cancel or reschedule appointments.

Cancelling on behalf of someone else

Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of clinical confidentiality. If you are cancelling on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have their permission to do so, unless they are incapable (because of physical and mental illness) or you are the parent/family member or carer for the patient.

Text and email appointment reminders are provided out of courtesy not necessity. It is your responsibility to turn up on time to your appointment.

Please note that, although we normally send email and/or text message reminders prior to appointments, the successful delivery of these relies on our text provider, your mobile network provider and your phone and cannot therefore be guaranteed. Therefore, you should not rely on our emails or text messages as the sole reminder of your appointment. We will not be responsible for any appointments missed as a result of non- delivery of these text message reminders, regardless of the reasons for its failure.

For any patient wishing to dispute the policy due to a situation out of your control we request something is put in writing to the Practice Manager: info@purleydentalpractice.co.uk, Purley Dental Practice, 21 Foxley Lane Purley Surrey CR8 3EH

Personal Details:

It is very important that you give a full medical history and details of any medication you take. Should these change in any way, it is very important for you to tell your Dentist. It is the patient’s responsibility to inform the clinic of any changes in either personal details and/or their medical history.

Guarantee:

At Purley Dental Practice we offer a like for like 12 month guarantee for fillings, and crown and bridgework, provided that the following conditions are met:

1. The patient has fully paid for the treatment and does not owe the practice any money for the treatment received.
2. The restorations have not been damaged as a result of an accident, trauma or excessive grinding.
3. The patient has followed all post treatment maintenance recommendations made by our dentists.
4. The patient has attended and routine examination every 6 months.

Some treatments may have a guarantee of less than 1 year, and in this case you will be informed by your Dentist.

ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY

Purley Dental Practice has a duty to provide a safe and secure environment for staff  and patients. Unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated at Purley Dental Practice. Should any of the examples below happen, decisive action will be taken. Violent or threatening behaviour will be reported to the Police.

Examples of unacceptable behaviour are:

• Verbal abuse which includes shouting, using foul language both face to face or over the phone
• Physical violence or threats
• Racial abuse or sexual harassment
• Persistent or unrealistic demands that cause stress to our staff
• Causing damage to the practice
• Theft

Purley Dental Practice reserves the right to request clients who repeatedly cancel appointments at short notice, fail to attend, arrive late or are rude/abusive to find another service provider.