Cancellations, Lateness & Missed Appointments
Our aim is to provide all our patients with the best possible care, and an important part of this is to ensure our patients have the best chance of accessing a dental appointment when they need it.
We therefore operate a strict cancellation, lateness, and missed appointment policy at the practice to ensure fairness to both our patients and staff.
CANCELLATIONS
If you are unable to keep your appointment, you must provide at least 2 working days’ notice if you wish to rearrange or cancel. This is to ensure that the appointment slot can be offered to someone else. Appointments cancelled with less than 2 working days’ notice will be classified as a short-notice cancellation and will incur a fee (as below).
For appointments that are booked for slots of 2 hours or more in duration, we kindly ask for 1 week’s notice, wherever possible, if you wish to cancel or rearrange. These appointments include, but are not limited to, dental implants, some composite bonding cases, or complex crown and bridge preparation appointments.
LATENESS
As with all healthcare services, we always strive to see out patients on time. However, sometimes a dental procedure can take longer than anticipated due to unforeseen circumstances, and the clinicians may unavoidably run behind. We appreciate that having to wait can be frustrating for our patients who lead busy lives, so please let reception know if you are unable to wait for an extended period of time. However, if you arrive late for an appointment and the clinician feels they cannot carry out your treatment safely or effectively in the time remaining, they may not be able to see you and request that your appointment be rearranged. This appointment would therefore be classified as a failed appointment and incur a fee, see (as below).
The clinicians’ decision is made in the patients’ best interest because they do not wish to rush your treatment in the remaining time and do not wish to run late for the next patient booked in after you.
MISSED APPOINTMENTS
We understand that occasionally patients may forget about a scheduled dental appointment. We therefore send SMS or email reminders in the lead up to your appointment in case it has slipped your mind. Should you fail to attend an appointment, a fee will be charged (as below).
You may also receive a letter from us to remind you of our missed appointment policy, and you will be given the opportunity to rebook. For private appointments, the appointment booking fee will need to be repaid before another appointment can be secured. Patients’ who repeatedly cancel appointments without providing 2 working days’ notice or fail to attend will not be offered further appointments at the practice and will need to seek dental care at an alternative dental practice.
BOOKING FEES
Appointment booking fees are taken upfront for all private appointments. Appointments cannot be secured until the booking fee is paid in full. The booking fee charged will depend on the type of appointment.
Oral health assessments
Emergencies
Consultations (except with TCO)
All hygiene appointments
All filling appointments
All other private appointments
If an appointment is missed or cancelled with less than 2 working days’ notice, the entire appointment booking fee will be charged and lost. This is to cover the running costs of the practice, including paying staff and overheads.
For our Northview Essentials Plan members, any routine exam or hygiene appointments included in your plan that are missed or cancelled at short notice will not be charged but will be counted as one of your included plan appointments. Additional exam or hygiene appointments booked outside of your annual allowance will need to be paid for at the standard independent price.
Please note that the practice cannot be responsible for lateness or missed appointments due to issues with transport, travel arrangements, or traffic. We are unable to make exceptions to this policy to ensure fairness to all our patients and our staff. Abuse towards our staff regarding this policy, whether verbal or written, will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
Contact Us
Find us Here
- 10 North View Terrace, Caerphilly, Cardiff, CF83 1PE
Opening Hours
- Mon-Thurs: 9am- 5pm
- Friday: 9am-2pm