Cancelling appointments

Occasionally It is necessary for you or us to cancel appointments.

When we become aware of our need to cancel , we will let you know immediately, and would be grateful if you give us as much notice as possible. Minimum reasonable notice is:

1. One full working day for appointments up to 55 minutes
2. Two full working days for appointments of 60 minutes to 3 hours
3. Four full working days for appointments of more than 3 hours

allowing us time to reallocate. Less notice results in a cancellation fee of £2 per minute to offset some of the loss, unless we can allocate the time to others, in which case there is no charge. We may waive charges where changes are obviously beyond your control, however, there are a few people who make excuses regularly and where this happens we may not waive the charge.

You may cancel by email or leave a message on our answer phone 24 hours per day.

Failed appointments and late arrivals

Failed appointments

Generally occur because of forgetfulness.

When this occurs we lose time, and others the opportunity for treatment, if we are to rebook the appointment.

Where this is one of several appointments the remainder are cancelled automatically. Before making further appointments we require the lesser of payment of £4 per minute or the cost of treatment we had planned for the failed appointment.  Any discounts applied to your course will be removed and the balance payable before further appointments are made.

Lateness

Please make every effort to arrive on time. We try to allocate enough time for each person so that no one is rushed, and we try to keep to time.  A delay of just five minutes can cause every appointment to run late for the remainder of the morning or afternoon.  The following gives an indication of your chances of being seen on time if you arrive promptly:

% seen at or before their appointed time	80%
% seen on time or within 5 minutes of appointed time	90%
% seen on time or within 10 minutes of appointed time	95%

Hint: If possible avoid appointments on Thursday evenings. These are the busiest, and traffic conditions are unpredictable, with delays most likely.

If you are aware of a dental problem, preferably please tell us prior to your visit to give us chance to rearrange our time to avoid running late. If that's not possible please tell the dentist at the beginning of your appointment. It is surprising how many people at the end of their appointment say they've been having a niggle from a tooth, or could we just smooth something, or what are the options to deal with a problem.  Suddenly we find ourselves running late,  or the person feels unhappy because they are asked to re-appoint for something they perceive to be a few second job.

We do sometimes have a genuine emergency, or unexpected complication, which has to be stabilised. If this should happen and we delay you, we will inform you as soon as we can.

Where a person is late we will see them if it doesn't encroach on someone else's time. We may have to do less work than planned, or need to re-appoint. Such loss of time will be treated in a similar way to a cancellation without notice.

Arrived, but unavailable for treatment to start

This is the situation where someone arrives on time, but then takes a mobile call just as they are about to come into surgery. We have known this to go on for several minutes delaying the start of treatment. This may mean that we don't have time to complete the planned work, or may inconvenience others by delaying them.