At Heartsease Dental Surgery, we aim to provide high-quality dental care while making the best possible use of our clinical time.
When an appointment is booked, that time is reserved specifically for you and cannot be offered to another patient. Late cancellations and missed appointments prevent us from offering that time to another patient, while the costs associated with providing care continue.
For this reason, we operate a booking fee policy for certain appointments.
By booking an appointment and paying the applicable booking fee, you confirm that you have read and accepted the terms of this policy.
A booking fee may be required to secure certain private appointments and reserve clinical time specifically for you.
Our usual booking fees are:
The booking fee is not an additional charge. Where you attend your appointment as agreed, the booking fee will be deducted from the cost of your treatment or appointment.
The booking fee is required to secure your appointment slot and will be retained where:
Where sufficient notice is provided, the Practice may transfer the booking fee to a rearranged appointment.
Your appointment is not confirmed until any required booking fee has been received.
The Practice reserves the right to waive or transfer a booking fee in exceptional circumstances at its discretion.
We understand that circumstances can change. If you need to cancel or rearrange an appointment, please contact the Practice with at least 48 hours’ notice.
Where sufficient notice is provided, your booking fee may be transferred to a rearranged appointment.
Where an appointment is cancelled or rearranged with less than 48 hours’ notice, the booking fee will be retained. A further booking fee may be required before another appointment can be secured.
If you decide not to proceed with treatment after an appointment has been reserved specifically for you, your booking fee will not normally be refunded.
If you fail to attend an appointment without providing the required notice, your booking fee will be retained.
A new booking fee will be required before another appointment can be made.
Patients who repeatedly fail to attend appointments or cancel at short notice may be required to pay the full cost of future private appointments or treatment in advance.
Please arrive on time for your appointment.
If you arrive late, we will make every reasonable effort to provide your planned care. However, if there is insufficient clinical time remaining to safely complete your appointment, it may need to be shortened or rearranged.
Where an appointment cannot proceed due to late arrival, this may be treated as a late cancellation and the booking fee may be retained. A further booking fee may be required to secure another appointment.
NHS regulations do not permit us to charge patients for failing to attend an NHS appointment or cancelling an NHS appointment at short notice.
However, missed appointments and late cancellations result in valuable NHS clinical time being lost that could otherwise have been offered to another patient.
We therefore request at least 48 hours’ notice if you are unable to attend an NHS appointment.
If a patient repeatedly fails to attend appointments or cancels with insufficient notice, we may not be able to continue providing NHS care or offer further NHS appointments, in accordance with NHS regulations and Practice policy.
As a general rule, within a rolling three-year period, a patient may no longer be offered NHS appointments if they:
The Practice will consider any exceptional circumstances before making a decision regarding a patient’s future NHS care.
We endeavour to send appointment reminders by text message and/or email.
These reminders are provided as a courtesy only and cannot be guaranteed. Delivery depends on third-party providers, mobile networks and the contact details provided by patients.
Patients remain responsible for attending their appointments regardless of whether a reminder has been received.
Please ensure that we have your most up-to-date contact details.
If you believe a booking fee has been retained incorrectly or there are exceptional circumstances that you would like the Practice to consider, please contact the Practice Manager in writing.
Each request will be reviewed individually. Following review, the Practice’s decision will be final.
By booking an appointment and paying any required booking fee, you confirm that you have read and accepted this Appointment Booking Policy.
The booking fee reserves clinical time specifically for you and, provided you attend your appointment as agreed, will be credited towards the cost of your treatment or appointment.
If you have any questions regarding this policy, please speak to a member of our reception team.
Thank you for your understanding and co-operation.
Heartsease Dental Surgery
