Cancellations
Failed appointments, Cancellation and Late Policy
Antwerp Dental Group (ADG) understands that everybody has busy lives and that sometimes circumstances beyond your control may mean that you have to cancel your appointment or are unable to get to your appointment on time. Likewise, there may be times when we have to cancel your appointment or are running behind time when you arrive for your appointment.
Failed appointments result in irrecoverable loss of surgery time. This has a knock on effect to patient waiting times for appointments and financial stability of the practice. Therefore, if you fail to attend an appointment without providing us with any prior notice there is likely to be a charge being levied for appointments outside of our NHS services. This could take the form a set fee which would be payable before you are seen again or the retention of a deposit that has been paid in advance to secure the appointment. Those being seen under the NHS may be asked to pay for their next appointment in advance of booking. In all cases a poor attendance history could result in the practice not being able to accept future bookings with you.
It is important that you keep the practice informed of any change in your contact details including mobile phone numbers. If you have provided the practice with a mobile phone number you will receive an automated text message 4 days prior to your appointment.
Cancellations
If you find that you are unable to attend an appointment that you have booked with us, please let us know as soon as possible so that this appointment can be made available to someone else. For routine appointments with your regular dentist or appointments with our hygienists we require at least 48 hours’ notice. For appointments on referral to a specialist or a practitioner with a special interest, we require at least 5 days’ notice. Cancellations providing us with less notice could result in a charge being levied for appointments outside of our NHS services. This could take the form a set fee which would be payable before you are seen again or the retention of a deposit that has been paid in advance to secure the appointment. Those being seen under the NHS may be asked to pay for their next appointment in advance of booking. In all cases a poor attendance history could result in the practice not being able to accept future bookings with you.
In the event that we need to cancel an appointment that you have booked with us, we will inform you as soon as possible. It is important that you keep the practice informed of any change in your contact details including mobile phone numbers and e-mail address. The practice will contact you using one or more of the contact methods that you have supplied us with:
- Telephone; either land line or mobile
- SMS message
- Letter
If the person with whom you have an appointment is not able to provide prior notice of an absence the practice will contact you as soon as possible. The practice will endeavour to accommodate you with another dentist or hygienist where possible or offer to rebook at the earliest mutually suitable time. The practice will also offer to add your name to a short notice cancellation list, so that, should a suitable appointment become available before the next scheduled one, we could contact you.
We understand that there are times when extenuating circumstances will prevent you from cancelling your appointment within the minimum time period. These instances will of course be considered.
Lateness
If you arrive late for your appointment please understand that we may not be able to accommodate you on the day. Lateness has a knock on effect to subsequent appointments and could result in the compromised experience of others using our services. If you arrive late for your appointment we may respectfully ask you to rebook.
Part of our customer care charter is to provide excellence – this must be reflected in our care and thoroughness. Such an ethos will be compromised if we routinely try to accommodate late attendance as all subsequent patient appointments will be shortened. Whereas we will do all within our power to accommodate you, please be mindful that we may be left with little option but to rebook you.
There may also be times when the surgery is running late due to an emergency or unforeseen complications. We will endeavour to inform you when surgery is running late as soon as you arrive for your appointment. You will be offered the opportunity to rebook. If you decide to rebook you will be prioritised and offered an appointment at the earliest mutually suitable time. The practice will also offer to add your name to a short notice cancellation list, so that, should a suitable appointment become available before the next scheduled one, we could contact you.
