Cancellation Policy

Failed Appointments & Cancellation Policy – Online Bookings

Our policy states that non-refundable charges may apply to private patients who fail to attend or provide short notice of appointment cancellations.

• Private treatment deposits will be lost for non-attendance, including cancellations made within 24 hours.

If you change your mind about your treatment or need to reschedule, please notify us at least 24 hours before your scheduled appointment time.

• Bright Dental Surgery will endeavour to manage our appointment system to avoid delays in appointment times and minimise loss of surgery time through cancellations and failed appointments.

In our practice, we:

• Communicate with patients in a courteous, friendly and professional manner.
• Ensure that patients receive complete information about our services, treatments, and costs.
• Refer patients for further professional advice and treatment where appropriate.

In our practice, we will:

• Manage our appointment system to ensure that treatment appointments are booked at least three weeks in advance.
• Ensure that patients do not have to wait longer than 10 minutes to be seen. In the event of a further delay, we will provide the reasons.
• Remind patients of their appointment by phone, text, or email
• Monitor our waiting times for
  (i) treatment and
  (ii) for booking appointments.
• Provide as much notice as possible when appointments have to be changed or cancelled, and explain the reason.
• Advise patients if there is a change of dentist or hygienist.

In return, we would like you to:

• Participate in your dental treatment, particularly any advice about prevention and diet that we have asked you to continue at home.
• Arrive on time for your appointment. Please give the practice at least 24 hours’ notice if you are unable to keep your appointment.
• Advise us of any changes to your contact details (address, telephone
  numbers, email) to help us keep our records up to date and ensure that we can contact you.
• We understand that unforeseen circumstances can arise; however, we appreciate your understanding in adhering to this policy.
• Failure to attend appointments can result in deregistration from the practice.

The practice policy is that:

• If you fail to attend your first new patient examination, you will automatically be deregistered without notice.
• If you fail to attend your first treatment appointment, you may be deregistered and will need to wait 3 months for another appointment.
• If you fail to attend your scheduled dental treatment appointment, we will not offer you another appointment for three months. At that time, a new treatment plan will be initiated, and the dental examination charges will be applicable.
• If you arrive late for your appointment, the dentist reserves the right to decline treatment, and the appointment will be recorded as a missed appointment.
• If you fail to attend two consecutive appointments, the practice reserves the right to deregister you.
• If you fail to attend two examination appointments within 12 months, the practice reserves the right to deregister you from the practice.
• If you fail to attend two treatment appointments, the practice reserves the right to deregister you from the practice.
• The practice reserves the right to deregister you if you provide Short Notice Cancellation for three appointments within the last 6 months or 3 years.
• If you cancel or change three appointments within the last 6 months.
• If you are late in cancelling an appointment within the 24-hour notice period, the appointment will automatically be recorded as a missed appointment.
• Rude or aggressive behaviour towards any staff member will result in deregistration from the practice (Zero-tolerance policy).

Online Appointment bookings:

To prevent patients from having duplicate files on our system, please make sure when booking an appointment online, you put the details we have for you, which include –

1. Not putting a space between the telephone number,
2. If any of your details have changed, please contact the practice before booking an appointment online.
3. Make sure the spelling of your name is correct.
4. To ensure your records are accurately updated on our system, please verify your details each time you attend an appointment.
5. We will send you a warning message if you book an appointment online that creates a duplicate file. However, if this issue is repeated, you will be unable to book an online appointment.