Appointment Cancellation Policy

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 and e-mail contact, to allow our patients to make or reschedule appointments easily. Our appointment system supports timely access to care and treatment, allows patients to access services at a time that suits them and minimises the length of time people have to wait. Appointments can be made or rescheduled by calling our reception team on 01993 702415 or via e-mail at enquiries@witneydentalpractice.co.uk or wdpbis@witneydentalpractice.co.uk 

Cancellation of an appointment or missed appointment by a patient
Patients are requested to give at least 24 hours’ notice to cancel a dental appointment. Cancellations should be made by telephone on: 01993 702415 or via e-mail at enquiries@witneydentalpractice.co.uk or wdpbis@witneydentalpractice.co.uk .

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.

There is a fee for private dental appointments that are missed or cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice. The fee is £1 per minute of the appointment booking.

The patient will be sent a written advisory/warning of the late cancellation or missed appointment for the first occurance. Informing the patient of the fee that will be applied if it were to happen in the near future. 

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. 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.

Reminders
E-mail reminders are sent to patients 4 weeks before or 5 days before any appointment. A mobile text reminder is also sent to patients 2 days before any appointment and 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:

• 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