Appointment management and cancellation policy

Appointment management and cancellation policy

Introduction At Abacus Dental & Implant Clinic, we are committed to providing high-quality dental care to all our patients. To ensure the smooth running of our practice and fair access to appointments, we have a clear policy regarding failed or missed appointments. This policy is designed to minimise disruptions and ensure that valuable clinical time is utilized effectively.

Definition of a Failed Appointment An appointment is considered failed if a patient:

1. Does not attend the scheduled appointment and provides no prior notice.

2. Cancels the appointment with less than 24 hours’ notice, preventing the opportunity to offer the slot to another patient.

Importance of Attending Appointments Missed appointments:

• Delay necessary dental care for the patient.

• Prevent other patients from accessing timely treatment.

• Impact the efficiency and financial sustainability of the practice.

Policy Details

1. Reminders

E-mail and text reminders are sent to patients 2 days before any appointment and patients are requested to inform the practice of any changes to their contact details. Patients will also receive a courtesy phone call the day before their scheduled treatment appointment to confirm attendance.

2. Notification Requirements:

Patients are required to provide at least 24 hours’ notice if they need to cancel or reschedule an appointment and 48 hours’ for appointments an hour or more.

Cancellations can be made via email or phone, voice message service available overnight.

3. Consequences of Failed Appointments:

First Missed Appointment: A courtesy reminder will be sent to the patient, emphasising the importance of attending scheduled appointments.

Second Missed Appointment: The practice reserves the right to:

Charge a missed appointment fee. Fees will be communicated in advance and are determined by the length of the missed appointment.

Remove the patient from the practice list for repeated non-compliance.

NHS and private failed appointments

At Abacus Dental Care we offer NHS dental treatment. We do not make a charge for NHS patients for a late cancellation or missed NHS appointments, however a charge will be accrued for late cancellation or missed private appointments. We reserve the right to ask a patient to find another dental practice if they continue to miss appointments. If more than two dental appointments are missed or cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice and without good reason, we cannot guarantee being able to complete a patient’s NHS treatment or offer them NHS treatment in the future, this will be decided on a case by case basis.

At Abacus Dental Care there is a fee for private dental appointments that are missed or cancelled with less than 48 hours’ notice. The fee is charged at £1 per minute.

4. Exceptions:

We understand that emergencies and unforeseen circumstances can arise. In such cases, we encourage patients to contact the practice as soon as possible to inform us of their situation.

5. Reinstatement of Patients:

Patients who have been removed from the practice list due to repeated failed appointments may request reinstatement. This will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and the patient may be asked to pay an upfront deposit for future appointments. We reserve the right to refuse reinstatement of a Patient

Communicating the Policy

• This policy will be explained to new patients during registration.

• A copy of the policy is available on our website and in the waiting rooms.

Why we have this Policy.

At our practice we will endeavour to manage our appointments system to avoid delays in appointment times and minimise loss of surgery time through cancellations and failed appointments.

Cancellation or delay of appointment by the practice

We will only cancel or delay a patient’s appointment in unavoidable circumstances. In such cases, we will take the following steps:

• The patient will be contacted as soon as the practice is aware of the need to cancel or delay the appointment. We will explain the reason for the cancellation or delay

• At the time of contact, the patient will be offered a new appointment at the earliest time available

• If the patient is unable to commit to a new appointment during that contact, we will ask them to get in touch at a later time, when we will offer them a priority appointment.

It is our aim to telephone or 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. We understand that cancellations are sometimes unavoidable due to illness or emergencies, and we will take account of all valid circumstances.

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

Abacus Dental Care – Practice Manager: Rebecca Newey

smile@abacusdental.com or in writing to 52 Lennon Drive, Crownhill, Milton Keynes, MK80AS