Cancelled Appointments

• All patients should be contacted if they are 10 minutes late for their appointment.
• One point of contact is sufficient such as:

1. Telephone conversation
2. Text message
3. Message left asking patient to contact surgery (we will inform them of missed appointment when they contact).

• All correspondence is to be documented in patient’s notes on the treatment screen.
• If a patient confirms that they no longer wish to proceed with planned treatment, the item is to be removed from the treatment plan. This will allow the open treatment plan to be completed.
• This will ensure patient records remain tidy.

If a patient does return in due course, a new treatment plan can be created.

• If a patient is 10 minutes late into a long treatment appointment, it is then up to the clinical staff to decide if planned treatment of part of planned treatment can still be carried out in the time remaining.
• Patients should then be contacted by the clinical staff or if running late send an instant message to the front desk to contact the patient (whichever is most time efficient on the day).
• This will allow us to determine if:

1. A patient is already on the way to the appointment.
2. Would like to set off to practice to allow us to carry out planned or part treatment.
3. Remake appointment.

1. Patient Fails To Attend (FTA) Appointment.
2. Wait five minutes to allow for the patient being late. It is the Nurses role in surgery to contact the patient to rearrange the appointment.
3. If the clinician is running late then the nurse should instant message down to reception to get the receptionist to call to rearrange the appointment. The receptionist will always assume rescheduling the whole appointment.
4. If it is the patient’s first FTA or if the patient has a genuine reason. Then rebook the appointment and take down mobile phone details and email address so we can send a reminder.
5. If it is the patient’s second FTA within a year then please follow the above step and inform the practice manager. We will send a letter to the patient and the dental practice reserves the right to charge an FTA fee. This will be charged at £1 per minute of the booked appointment.
6. If you are unable to get through to the patient please leave a voicemail or send a text message to the patient and put it in your tasks to check a week later if the patient has booked back in.