FAILED TO ATTEND AND SHORT NOTICE CANCELLATION POLICY

FAILED TO ATTEND AND SHORT NOTICE CANCELLATION POLICY

***PLEASE NOTE THIS APPLIES TO ALL PATIENTS***
 

***Patients who do not pay for their dental treatment will be charged if they Failed to Attend (FTA) an appointment***

We have had to review our policy on appointment cancellations and failures to attend due to a high number of people not attending their scheduled dental appointments or cancelling at the last minute, recently).  We understand that unforeseen circumstances can arise, but we ask for you co-operation in minimizing the impact of late changes to our schedule, delaying other patients getting dental care and impacting on the cost of running a business during the cost-of-living crisis.

Reminders – Text reminders and email reminders are sent out to all our patients automatically from our computer system software, free of charge to the patient, but not free of charge to this business. It is the sole responsibility of the patient to ensure we have correct contact details such as up-to-date mobile numbers, emails and addresses in which we can contact you to send you reminders. We also print out your appointment on a physical card when you are making your appointment at the reception in a handy wallet/purse size.

Cancellation Notice Period

We require a minimum of 48 HOURS NOTICE (maybe longer for long complex dental treatment appointments) for any appointment cancelling or rescheduling. Please contact our reception by telephone only or leave a message on the answering machine facility to let us know you won’t be able to attend. If this is the case, we can reschedule your appointment for you, but also, we can call other patients who are waiting on dental treatment to attend for their treatments sooner as they may have been waiting a while. (Please don’t use Facebook 

Messenger/text messages or email to contact the practice as we do not use during the day)

Failure To Attend

Failure To Attend a scheduled dental appointment WILL RESULT IN A FEEto be paid before rebooking with us. There will be a fee for a check-ups, more for longer or more complex treatment appointments.

· You and Family members will be charged £15 per patient not attending dental checkups or up to the full cost of the more complex dental treatments.  If you have paid a deposit for your treatment and still don’t attend, then the Failure to Attend (FTA) fee will be applied and taken from money that has been already paid to the practice as a deposit. No new appointment can be booked until the FTA charge is paid in full. This should be paid to the practice within 7 days. This can be paid by card, in the practice, over the phone or by cash in person.

Exceptions and Appeals

We understand emergencies and exceptional circumstances arise to prevent you from attending or cancelling in advance. If you have a valid reason for a short notice cancellation (48hrs before your appointment) or a FTA then the reason will be considered by the practice manager, Mr John King, and any charges paid to the practice will be refunded within 7 working days. All appeals will be treated individually and confidentially.

Consequences of Repeated Offences

Knockroon Dental Practice reserves the right to refuse patients further appointments due to continual cancellations, short notice cancellations and FTA’s. The patient will be deregistered from the practice and no longer registered under the care of the dentists contracted within.

Thank you for your support and understanding in helping us provide the best possible care for all our patients. Remember, all patients have a right to register with a dental practice of their choice in Scotland.