THE PATIENTS CHARTER

Our Philosophy of Care

1. To provide and improve the best care for patients.

2. A commitment to attaining the highest standard of clinical practice and encouraging health promotion.

3. To maintain a comfortable and supportive working environment for all the staff.

4. To keep a happy team spirit and empathy for patients and staff alike.

5. To ensure that communication is open between patients, staff and external parties (e.g. other professionals) at all times.

The Patient’s Rights

1. You will be treated in a friendly, courteous manner whenever you visit or telephone the surgery.

2. We will try to answer the phone promptly and ensure that sufficient staff are available to do this.

3. You have a right to confidentiality.

4. You have the right to see your dental records, subject to the limitations of the law.

5. This practice will provide and maintain premises that are clean, comfortable, safe and as accessible as possible especially to our patients with mobility problems.

6. You will be offered emergency appointment (i.e. facial swelling, pain, fractured teeth that are cutting the gum or cheeks) within 24 hours.

7. Patients will be treated as individuals and partners in their dental care, irrespective of their ethnic origin or religious or cultural beliefs.

8. At the time of your appointment we will listen empathetically to your concerns and then conduct a thorough examination. Before we provide any treatment, we will advise you of your options (NHS and Private), we will discuss benefits and risks of the different options and the cost of treatment so you can make an informed choice regarding the best treatment for your specific needs.

9. We will do our very best to keep to appointment times. However when for some unforeseen circumstances we run late or are unable to keep to appointment time, you will be informed promptly and offered a suitable alternative appointment or asked to see another dentist. A refusal of our offer of an alternative dentist may delay your treatment.

10. We will deal with any suggestions or complaints quickly and efficiently.

The Patient’s Responsibilities
For our team to give you and fellow patients the best possible service, we would ask you to note the following guidelines:

1. Please read our practice leaflet carefully, and retain it for future reference. Along with the website it will help you to get the best out of all the services we offer.

2. Please let us know if you change your name, address or telephone number.

3. To inform us of any changes to your general health. This includes up to date information about all your medications and any allergies you may have (or have developed).

4. To give us at least 48 hours notice when cancelling appointments, this allows us to allocate the appointment to other patients. Please see Our Late Cancellation/ Failed Attendance Policy over leaf.
   

5. Where appropriate, payments for treatment are payable in advance.

6. In line with the NHS zero tolerance policy, it is the policy of this practice that, if a patient is abusive, threatening or violent to any member of staff they and their family will be immediately removed from the list.

7. Please switch off your mobile phone when entering the premises.

8. To keep to agreed recall time in line with National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence Guidelines and take responsibility to make these appointments.

9. To take responsibility of maintaining good oral health.

10. As a new patient, if you fail to attend your first appointment with us then we will not be able to offer you another appointment in line with our Practice Policy. You will be required to register with another dentist.

Late Cancellation/Failed Attendance Policy
Cancellation of an appointment with less than 48 hours notice usually means that we are unable to re-allocate the time to other patients. This leads to lost treatment time, and longer delays for appointments.

Efficient Running
Running an efficient appointment system where patients give us notice if they are unable to attend a dental appointment, means that we minimize treatment time and are able to keep waiting lists down.

Minimum Notice- 48 Hours
We aim to be fair to our patients and widely publicise our cancellation policy, which requires 48 hours notice to cancel or move an appointment. This information is printed on all appointment cards. If you cancel an appointment at shorter notice, it will go down as a missed appointment. Two or more missed appointments within a 12 month period will result in the patient being blocked and will have to register at another practice.

Why 48 Hours Notice?
We ask for 48 hours notice to change, cancel or move an appointment as this gives us an opportunity to re-allocate the time to another patient. We also print and prepare day lists 48 hours in advance, so a cancellation at shorter notice means we need to re-print complete day lists and potentially lose valuable treatment time, which along with our staffing costs and overheads still needs to be funded.
Late Cancellation and Re-booking In the first instance of a late cancellation or failure to attend, we will give you the opportunity to rebook the appointment, you will also notified that we need at least 48 hours for any further cancellations. In the second instance of a late cancellation or failure to attend, the dentist will no longer see you at the practice and you will be asked to register at another practice. We do understand that sometimes, late cancellations cannot be helped and in certain circumstances exceptions will be made in good faith.

Understanding
We appreciate your understanding of our late cancellation policy in helping to run and efficient appointment system. We will always take exceptional circumstances into account if the unforeseen happens and on the rare occasion you have the need to cancel at short notice.