We charge a fee of £30 at the time of booking a new patient or returning patient appointment.
This fee is to act as a deposit on the appointment slot.
We have found in the past that some patients book a new appointment then don’t turn up. This costs the practice money in appointment time lost and administration time and could lead to fees having to be increased in the future.
Taking deposits decreases the probability of patients failing to attend or making last minute cancellations. The small deposit taken ensures that the lost or wasted time is compensated for. We empathise in occasional situations where patients cannot inform earlier due to unavoidable circumstances – we try our best to book in dental emergencies in the empty slot created. However this may not always be possible and it is at the clinicians discretion to take a short notice cancellation or failed to attend fee for the lost time.
We also apply this minimal fee to patients who return for examinations after a fairly long period of time and are not regular with their dental and hygiene appointments. Irregular dental attenders require longer examination appointments similar to new patients. Due to the additional time and resources needed these patients are required to pay a £30 fee when re-joining the practice.
The practice holds the right to refuse dental appointments to patients both new and registered should there be a history of repetitive short notice cancellations or failed to attend and a poor attendance record. This is done to avoid any more lost time in the future as we believe this lost time could have been used appropriately to book other needy patients should we have been given sufficient notice.