Appointment Changes and Cancellations

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

Management of appointments
We invest in the latest technology, including modern telephone equipment to allow our patients to make or reschedule appointments easily. Our appointment system offers support for timely access to care and treatment. We make every effort to ensure we can offer patients access to our services at a time that suits them, where possible and minimises the length of time people have to wait. Appointments can be made or rescheduled by calling our dedicated appointments line on [ 01344 483220 ] 

Reminders of forthcoming appointments
E-mail/Text reminders are sent to patients if applicable 30 days & 7 days prior to the appointment date. Before any appointment patients are requested to inform the practice of any changes to their contact details.

Cancellation or delay of an 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:

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• 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
   

Cancellation of an appointment or missed appointment by a patient-

Patients are requested to give at least 48 hours’ notice to cancel a dental appointment. Cancellations should be made by telephone on: [ 01344 483220 ]. Late cancellations and missed appointments may represent a cost to the practice, when other patients could have been seen in the time set aside for the patient.

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We may make a charge for a late cancellation or missed appointment. However, we reserve the right to ask a patient to find another dental practice if they continue to miss appointments.

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

There may  be a fee for unattended dental appointments that have been missed.  The fee is based on the length of the appointment and is at the clinician's discretion.

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It is our aim to telephone or email the patients after any missed appointment to understand the reason for non-attendance and to inform them about any fee or decision about their 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.

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Confidentiality Policy

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The practice is committed to complying with the requirements of the legislation governing patient confidentiality including: Access to Health Records 1990, Caldicott Guidelines 1997 - see the Data Quality Policy (M233-DPQ), Confidentiality NHS Code of Practice 2003, Data Protection Act 2018, GDPR and the current GDC Standards.

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For the purpose of this policy, confidential information is defined as all the information that is learnt in a professional role including personal details, medical history, what treatment a patient is having and how much it costs. The definition of personal details includes, but is not limited by, such details as name, age, address, personal circumstances, race, health, sex and sexual orientation, etc. Note that even the fact that a patient attends the practice is confidential. Confidential information may be supplied or stored on any medium including images, videos, health records, and computer records or may be transmitted verbally.

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All staff members must be aware of their responsibilities for safeguarding patient confidentiality and keeping information secure and must have received appropriate training on the legislation requirements and the current GDC Standards to ensure that:

• No personal information given or received in confidence is passed on to anyone else without
  the patient's prior consent. To obtain consent a patient is advised what information will be released and why and the likely consequences of the information release. The patient is given
  an opportunity to withhold their permission to share information, unless exceptional circumstances apply, and note is made on their clinical record of whether or not they gave their permission

• If a patient consents to sharing information about them the team member will ensure that all recipients of the information understand that it is confidential. When referring to dental or medical colleagues we expect them to have the same high standards

• If a patient’s information or images are used for research or marketing the team member will advise the patient how these will be used, check that the patient understands what s/he is agreeing to, obtain and record the patient’s consent to their use and only release the minimum information for the purpose. The patient will be advised that s/he can withdraw permission at any time

• If it is not necessary for a patient to be identified, they will remain anonymous in any information released

• The duty to keep information confidential also covers originals and copies of a patient's photographs, videos or audio recordings, including those made on a mobile phone. No images or recordings will be made without the patient's permission

• Patient information is kept confidential even after death

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Before releasing information without the patient’s permission, an effort is always made to either convince the patient to release the information himself or herself or give the practice permission to do so, with the details of the discussion fully documented in the patient record. If obtaining consent from a patient is not practical or appropriate or if the patient will not give their permission, the team member will obtain advice from their professional indemnity organisation before releasing it.

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A patient’s information will only be released without their prior permission in the following exceptional circumstances:

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• It is in the best interests of the public or the patient and the information released could be important in preventing or detecting a serious crime

• If a team member has information that a patient could be at risk of significant harm or may be a victim of abuse, in which case the appropriate care agencies or the police will be informed

• If a team member is required to disclose information by a court or a court order, in which case only the minimum amount of information necessary to comply will be released

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The practice treats breaches of confidentiality very seriously. No team member shall knowingly misuse any confidential information or allow others to do so. Failure to comply with this policy may result in disciplinary action.

This policy should be read in conjunction with the Social Media Policy (M 233-SMD), Data Quality Policy (M233-DPQ), Information Protection and Security Policy (M 233-DPT) and the Information Governance Procedures (M 217C).

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This policy is reviewed and updated annually within our compliance cycle.

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