Practice cancellation policy as mentioned on practice website: website link

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

Cancellation of an appointment by the patient:
Patients are requested to give at least 48 hours’ notice to cancel a dental appointment. Cancellations should be made by telephone/email.

There is a fee for private dental appointments that are missed or cancelled with less than 48 hours’ notice. The fee is based on the length of the appointment and can be found in the latest private fees list.

If more than two NHS dental appointments are missed or cancelled with less than 48 hours’ notice, we do not guarantee being able to complete a patient’s NHS treatment or offer them NHS treatment in the future.

It is our aim to write to 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.

Any appeals about missed or cancelled appointment decisions by a patient should be made in writing to the Practice Manager.

When we need to cancel patients:
The period of time in question will be blocked off on Exact, so that all appointments to be cancelled will show in red.
If it is a short-notice cancellation, that is, less than 3 days (usually in cases of illness), the patient will be called as soon as possible.
If there is no answer a voicemail will be left asking the patient to call the surgery as soon as they can. If possible, further attempts to contact the patient will be made as necessary and as time allows.
If notice is longer than 3 days (for example, in case of holidays)
Reception will formulate a cancellation letter using the appropriate template on Exact

▪ Ensure it is the correct day on the cancellation letter. Exact will always choose the next scheduled appointment for the letter but it may be a later appointment you are actually cancelling.
▪ Ensure you make it clear which appointment is being cancelled as some patients may have more than one appointment on the same day. Mention they still have the other appointment on that day.
▪ If it is a family appointment being cancelled, ensure this is clear on the letter as well.

We will always endeavor to give the patient as much notice of any cancellations or appointment changes as we possibly can.






‍
‍Last modified: 27 Apr 2022
Ivydene Dental Practice, 5 Sailsbury Road, SP4 7HQ