Persistent failure to attend NHS appointments

When a patient fails to attend or cancels without 24 hours notice a pre-booked appointment the practice will write to the patient informing them about the date of the failed appointment and the consequences of failing it 2 more times, which would be the denial of access to the practice. If a patient fails to attend or cancels without 24 hours notice a pre-booked appointment 3 times, the practice will inform the patient in writing about the refusal of access, providing the reasons, and also will provide the LAT contact details.

A refusal to treat from will be completed by the treating dentist & sent to the LAT.

Copies of all correspondence regarding the refusal of access filled and retained by the practice manager.

Failure to attend private appointments

When a patient fails to attend or cancels without 48 hours notice a pre-booked appointment, the practice will write to the patient informing them about the date of the failed appointment and the appropriate failed to attend charge, which must be paid before the patient can rebook with the practice.
Failure to attend charges are normally set at £2/min and are at the discretion of the dentist.

Copies of all correspondence regarding the failure to attend and the charges incurred will be recorded in patient notes.

Missed Appointments Policy

In order to manage our appointment system effectively, it is important that patients attend for their appointments.

Due to the large number of people who make appointments but fail to show up for them or fail to give adequate advance notice when canceling them, it has become necessary to inform all patients of their responsibility.

Broken and canceled appointments waste the clinic’s very limited time and hinder other patients who are trying to make an appointment.

If a patient has missed more than 2 appointments, the practice will no longer be seeing that patient. An appointment is considered to have been broken if any of the following occur:

▪ the patient fails to show up for the appointment,
▪ the patient appears more than 20 minutes late for a scheduled appointment, or
▪ the patient calls to cancel an appointment with too little advance notice to allow that appointment time to be rescheduled with another patient (24 hours will be considered to be the minimum time necessary to avoid a broken appointment).

Patients who wish to cancel dental appointments must do so a minimum of 24 hours in advance of their scheduled appointment. If less notice is given without a valid excuse, the appointment will be considered to have been broken.



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