Cancellation Policy

Cancellations

If a patient has difficulty in attending pre-booked appointments, we require patients to contact Cottage Dental giving 48 business hours’ notice. We will try to offer you the nearest available appointment for that day assuming availability exists or another day.

What if I fail to cancel?

Our mission is to provide outstanding care for our patients, in an efficient manner. If you fail to cancel Cottage Dental employs a strict Failed Appointments Policy to ensure patients have access to care with minimal delay.

Why do I have to give 48 business hours notice?

Not attending an appointment wastes vital time which could be offered to patients awaiting treatment or who may be in pain.

We strive to accommodate the appointment needs of our patients and make every effort to provide emergency dental care where needed at short notice. This requires the dental surgeons and our hygienists to be operating in their surgeries to maximum efficiency. For this reason, we have a Failed Appointments Policy in place.

Short notice cancellation/ late arrival

We understand that some patients travel long distances to get to the clinic, and in some cases being late for appointments can be unavoidable. Patients arriving more than 10 minutes late for a Dentist, or Hygienist appointment may be requested to reschedule their appointment as it would be difficult to fit their appointment in without the dentist/hygienist/therapist running late for other patients.

Cancelling at short notice makes it very difficult to offer your appointment to other patients in need, preventing them from utilising that time.

It is the dentist’s prerogative to remove from his or her list anyone who has poor attendance or short notice cancellation history.

Due to the uncertainty of offering personalised healthcare treatment, occasionally our appointments can over-run. The team at Cottage Dental recognise the value of your time and work hard to ensure your appointment is punctual. However, in circumstances beyond our control, Cottage Dental may be required to cancel or reschedule appointments.

Cancelling on behalf of someone else

Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of clinical confidentiality. If you are cancelling on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have their permission to do so, unless they are incapable (because of physical and mental illness) or you are the parent/family member or carer for the patient.

Text and email appointment reminders are provided out of courtesy, not a necessity. It is your responsibility to turn up on time for your appointment.

Please note that, although we send email and/or text message reminders prior to appointments, the successful delivery of these relies on our text provider, your mobile network provider, and your phone and cannot, therefore, be guaranteed. Therefore, you should not rely on our emails or text messages as the sole reminder of your appointment.

We will not be responsible for any appointments missed as a result of non- delivery of these text message reminders, regardless of the reasons for their failure.

For any patient wishing to dispute the policy due to a situation out of your control, we request something is put in writing to the Practice Manager: office@cottagedental.co.uk

All failures to attend will be documented in the patient file/record.

Cottage Dental reserves the right to refuse further treatment to patients who fail to attend two or more appointments. This would potentially mean their removal from the practice registration list.

Approved By: Sandy Limerick, Jackie Armstrong, Michelle Goode
Date Published: 21/01/2023