Cancellations and Missed Appointments Policy
Our resources are in great demand. When you fail to attend an appointment at the practice or cancel at short notice, it is preventing other patients that need urgent care from accessing an appointment.
Our policy on cancellations and missed appointments
We want every patient to be able to get the dental care they need, when they need it. When an appointment is missed or cancelled at short notice, that time can’t always be offered to another patient. This page explains what we ask of patients, and what happens if an appointment is missed or cancelled too close to the appointment time.
Cancelling or rearranging an appointment
If you need to cancel or rearrange, please let us know with as much notice as possible:
- NHS routine appointments: at least 24 hours’ notice
- Private and specialist appointments: at least 48 hours’ notice
You can cancel or rearrange through our website chatbot, phone, email or in person.
Arriving late
If you arrive more than 10 minutes after your appointment time, we may not be able to see you. If your appointment can’t go ahead, this will be recorded as a missed appointment.
For NHS patients
If you miss an appointment, or cancel or rearrange with less notice than above, we’ll get in touch to check you’re okay and let you know how this has been recorded.
If this happens a second time within 12 months, we won’t be able to continue offering you routine NHS appointments at that practice, and you’ll need to register with another NHS dentist for routine care. Urgent NHS care remains available through NHS 111.
For private patients
Missed or short notice appointments are charged at £2 for every minute of lost clinical time. Missed or short notice hygiene appointments are charged at a fixed £40. This applies whether the appointment was booked by phone or online, and the charge needs to be settled before a new appointment can be confirmed.
Children’s appointments
If a child doesn’t attend a scheduled NHS appointment, our Was Not Brought policy applies. If a child doesn’t attend a scheduled private appointment, the same missed appointment charge applies and the parent or guardian remains responsible for it.
Exceptional circumstances
We understand that things sometimes happen that are outside your control, such as illness, hospitalisation or an emergency. If this affects your ability to attend or give notice, please let your practice know and this will be looked at individually.
If you’d like to query a charge or decision
Please contact your practice in the first instance. Any formal appeal should be made in writing to [email protected].
