Patient Charter

Patient Charter

Our Patient Charter is a statement of how our Dental Practice operates and the standards of care that we apply to all our patients. It defines our responsibilities and the high standards we strive to maintain and improve upon. However, to maintain these standards also requires your co-operation and the Charter therefore also defines your responsibilities to us as a patient.

Our responsibilities

  • To listen to your dental problems and to give you an explanation of treatment and solution to your problem.
  • To give you a clear and written estimate of your treatment.
  • To respect your dignity and the choices you make.
  • To protect the confidentiality of any information you provide.
  • To co-operate with other members of our dental team and other health care colleagues so as to act in your best interest.
  • To follow the latest cross-infection guidelines ensuring your safety is of prime concern.
  • To keep up to date with the latest technologies and treatments available.
  • To do all we can to keep to appointment times as we understand your time is precious.

Your responsibilities

  • To respect our appointment times and let us know as soon as possible (at least 24 hours notice) if you cannot make an appointment in order that it may be given to someone else.
  • To pay for treatment at the end of each visit as requested.
  • To follow any advice we may give you after treatment.
  • To respect our dental team as we respect you as a patient.

Violent or Abusive Behaviour

Any violent or abusive behaviour will result in immediate withdrawal from practice.

Failure to attend (FTAs)

Under the new NHS contract, if a patient is unable to attend an NHS appointment and fails to notify the practice, it is no longer possible to charge an FTA fee. However, to prevent the waste of valuable clinical time, every practice has the right to deregister a patient for failing to give sufficient notice (24 hours) or failing to attend an appointment. Patient who are regularly cared for, or NHS patients who are having treatment outside the NHS will be charged for short notice cancellation or missed appointments.

Our policy is as follows:
Failing to attend two appointments, or failing to give more than 24 hours notice of cancellation (unless the patient can demonstrate an acceptable reason for the cancellation) on two occasions, will lead to automatic deregistration from the practice. Surgery time is very valuable and we ask patients to allow the appointment to be offered to another patient by giving us sufficient notice. Please note that FTA fees will continue to be charged for appointments which are for private treatment outside the NHS. FTA for private appointments charge at £1 a minute of appointment length.

Complaints

We hope you will have no cause for complaint and are happy with the service and care we provide for you. Should you be unhappy with any aspect of your care, please ask for a meeting with the practice manager who will take your concerns seriously and if necessary begin an investigation into your complaint. All feedback is treated in confidence and viewed as an opportunity to improve our service. We believe our practice complaints procedure provides the best opportunity to resolve any problems and assure you that your care and that of your family will not be compromised by bringing your concern to our attention. Should you not be happy with the results of our investigation, you retain the right to approach the ombudsman, details of which are available on request.

We do listen to your feedback and would appreciate your feedback via our online feedback form.

 

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