Corner House Dental

Cancellation/Failed Appointments Policy

Missed appointments and late cancellations represent a cost to the practice, to you and to other
patients who could have been seen in the time set aside for you.

Failed appointments can interfere with dental treatment, creating unnecessary scheduling
problems for other patients.

We strive to accommodate the appointment needs of our patients and make every effort to keep on
time for appointments scheduled. Occasionally this may not be possible due to unforeseen
circumstances. If we have to cancel and/or re-arrange your appointment, we will endeavour to
provide as much notice as possible.

Please arrive in good time for your appointment. Arriving a few minutes late has a knock on effect
and makes us run late for the patients after you. We do not want to rush your treatment. If your
appointment time becomes inconvenient for you, we are always happy to change it if you provide
us with 48 hours’ notice. This allows us to schedule in a patient who may be in urgent need of our
care.

A patient who fails to attend their appointment or cancels at short notice, will be sent an email or
letter warning them that they may lose their NHS entitlement at our practice, if they fail to attend or
cancel at short notice again within a 2 year period. In the event that a further appointment is
missed or cancelled at short notice within this 2 year period, we will withdraw the offer of NHS
treatment at our practice. This is in line with the NHS Choices website that states, “Your dentist can
terminate your treatment if you miss your appointment without letting the dental surgery know. You
may then need to pay again for a new course of treatment. While surgeries cannot charge you for
not turning up, NHS England has the right to ask you to find another dental surgery if you continue
to miss appointments. ”

As with all medical facilities, we aim to see our patients on time but due to the nature of health
care, this is not always possible. However, if a patient turns up late for their appointment and that
treatment cannot be carried out in the time remaining, this will be regarded as failing to attend.

This policy does not affect your ability to seek NHS care at another NHS practice.

Private Patients – including Payment Plans – Denplan and Denplan Essentials

Failure to provide us with 48 hours advance notice or failure to attend for a scheduled appointment
will result in a cancellation or no-show fee. This will equate to £25.00 for each 10 minutes of the
missed/cancelled appointment (e.g. £75.00 for a 30 minute appointment).

It is understandable that sometimes cancellations cannot be helped due to illness or emergency
and discretion may be used if there is a good reason for the appointment being missed. If an
appointment is cancelled within the same treatment session you are due to be seen, it will be
deemed as a fail to attend. The practice cannot be responsible for individual travel arrangements
and appointments missed due to transport problems or running late due to traffic will still incur a
fee. If you are sick and cannot attend on the day of your appointment, please call as soon as
possible in the morning or email us to avoid a fee for a late cancellation. We also reserve the right
to refuse further treatment to patients who fail to attend two consecutive appointments or any three
of five consecutive appointments. This would potentially mean their removal from the practice
registration list. The patient may not be seen for a further appointment until any outstanding fees
have been paid.

Cancellation/Failed Appointments

Finally, our goal in communicating our cancellation and failed to attend policy is to avoid any extra
charges being passed on to the patient. We thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Remember Non-attendance or short notice cancellation is surgery time lost.

Cancellation with good notice has the potential to benefit yourself and all our patients by allowing
us to accommodate emergency and rescheduled appointments so that other patients can receive
their treatment sooner.

Approved By: Deepthi Gandavarapu, Sarah Waterhouse
Date Published: 24/07/2026