Practice Policies
NHS Registration and Waiting List Policy
Our NHS books are currently closed, unless you meet the following criteria;
-
Under the age of 18, or under the age of 19 and in full time education (pending evidence)
-
Expectant mother
-
Mother of a child under the age of 1 year
Our NHS availability gets reviewed annually in April.
Unfortunately we are unable to effectively manage a waiting list and recommend you to check in with the practice or keep up to date with our social media pages for if/when we reopen our NHS books.
​
Our private and dental plan books are always open.
​
​​Due to such high demand for NHS dental treatment and our limited capacity, keeping up to date with your regular dental appointments is essential in order to remain an active patient. Any patient who has not attended for over 2 years will be removed from our current NHS patient list.
​
Burnham Dental Practice would recommend booking the next appointment before you leave the practice to ensure you do not miss future appointments. We will aim to remind patients of their upcoming appointments either via phone, text or email depending on your recorded preferences. Is is also recommended to keep us informed if your contact details change such as when you move house so that our communications are received.
​
Late Cancellation & Failed Attendance Policy
Cancellation of an appointment with less than ‘One Full Working Day / 24 Hours’ notice usually means we are unable to re-allocate the time to other patients. This leads to lost treatment time, which along with our staffing costs and overheads still has to be funded.
Efficient Running
Running an efficient appointment system where patients give us notice if they are unable to attend an appointment means we minimise wasted treatment time and keep waiting lists to a minimum.
Minimum notice – 1 full working day
We ask for one full working days’ notice to change, cancel or move an appointment as this gives us an opportunity to re-allocate the time to another patient. If less notice is given without a valid reason, the appointment may incur a charge and will be marked down as a short notice cancellation on your record. Please note, Saturdays are not considered a working day and therefore Monday appointments should be cancelled before we close on Thursdays.
Text reminders
Text reminders are sent 2 working days before an appointment and patients are requested to inform the practice of any changes to their contact details. Text reminders are sent as a courtesy and not receiving a message (for example due to IT failure, change of mobile no. etc) can’t be used as a valid exception to our cancellation policy. We also offer a paper appointment card to all patients when the appointment is made in person, in the practice.
Rescheduling or delay of appointments by the practice
We only reschedule or delay a patient’s appointment in unavoidable circumstances. Because appointments are booked so far in advance, sometimes this does occur. In such cases we will:
• Contact the patient as soon as we are aware of the need to reschedule or delay and explain the reason why.
• At the time of contact we will offer the earliest next available appointment.
• If the patient is unable to commit to an appointment at that contact, we will ask the patient to contact us and will book a new appointment at the earliest time available.
• If no contact is made the next available appointment will be made and the patient will be notified via email and/or text.
Cancellation of an appointment or a missed appointment by the patient
Failure to attend is defined as:
• Not arriving for an appointment.
• Arriving late for an appointment (5 minutes late or more).
• Not giving enough notice of not being able to attend (Short Notice Cancellation) – we require 1 full working days’ notice.
NHS Appointments
Missed NHS appointments cannot be charged for, however we have a firm policy regarding non-attendance in line with NHS regulations.
​
Patients who fail to attend or short notice cancel three NHS dental appointments in a 12 month period are unlikely to be offered any further appointments (missed appointments do not have to be consecutive).
​
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 (https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/what-happens-when-you-visit-the-dentist/). If you miss an NHS appointment and do not attend again within 24 months, we may not be able to see you again.
​
As per NICE guidelines the dentist will invite you to book an examination appointment at the end of your course of treatment to ensure you receive ongoing dental care.
However if you choose not to book an examination at this point we remind you it is a patient’s responsibility to attend regularly and keep track of dental appointments. Should a patient not attend an appointment within 24 months that patients registration will lapse.
​
Private and Plan Appointments
Patients booking an appointment with the Hygienist may be asked to pay a deposit of half of the hygienist fee. If a Hygienist appointment is cancelled by the patient at short notice (less than 1 full working days’ notice) or missed, then this payment will be lost, and a new fee will need to be paid before a new appointment can be booked.
If a patient fails to attend a Private or Plan dental appointment with the dentist, they will be charged for some or all of the cost of that appointment, in proportion to the length of the appointment and any laboratory fees incurred. The final decision is at the discretion of the Practice owner. We reserve the right to ask for a deposit for private and plan appointments with our dentist, which will be forfeited in the event of failure to attend as outlined above. If more than 2 appointments are missed, future appointments may not be offered.
Private and Plan Treatment Costs
You will be issued with an electronic copy of your treatment plan outlining proposed treatment and costs by your dentist. The costs outlined in the treatment plan reflect those on the date this plan is issued and ONLY with the practitioner(s) who planned that treatment.
The costs outlined for each item in the treatment plan will be honoured for 6 months, from the date issued, in the event there is a change to our charges during this period. This applies only to the treatment outlined in this treatment plan and NOT any additional/different dental treatment that you may require during/after this 6-month window, which would be charged the applicable fee at the time it has been planned.
In the interest of your oral health, dental treatment should be carried out in a timely manner and in accordance with your dental professional’s advice. If more than 6 months has elapsed, between the date your plan is issued and the start of treatment, your treatment will be re-priced to our current treatment charges. The cost of your treatment may change if your treatment is provided by a different practitioner and/or the clinical needs for your treatment changes. You will be informed of any changes to the costs before proceeding with treatment.
Your Medical Information
It’s important we hold up-to-date medical information on your records. If there are any changes to your health between appointments, please inform us when you attend. It is useful to bring a copy of your prescription sheets if you take any medications. Please note if you are unable to provide us with up-to-date medical information prior to your dental treatment, your appointments may be postponed until this information is received by the practice.
​
Safety ​
We regularly maintain checks to verify our equipment and follow all guidance regarding Health and Safety issued by the relevant authorities.
​​
Cross Infection
We strictly follow all cross infection control guidance issued by the Department Of Health HTM 01-05
​
Information Handling​
In providing your dental care and treatment we will ask for information about you and your health. Occasionally, we may receive information from other providers who have been involved in providing your care.
We are a Data Controller under the terms of the requirements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
This Privacy Notice explains what Personal Data the practice holds, why we hold and process it, who we might share it with, and your rights and freedoms under the Law.
What information do we collect?
-
Personal details such as your name, date of birth, national insurance number, NHS number, address , telephone number and email address
-
Information about your dental and general health, including:
- Clinical records made by dentists and other dental professionals involved in your care or treatment
- X-rays, clinical photographs, digital scans of your mouth and teeth and study models
- Medical and dental histories
- Treatment plans and consent
- Notes of conversations with you about your care
- Dates of your appointments
- Details of any complaints you have made and how these complaints were dealt with
- Correspondence with other health professionals or institutions
-
Details of the fees we have charged, the amounts you have paid and some payment details
Why we process Personal Data (what is the “purpose”)
“Process” means we obtain, store, update and archive data.
Patient data is held for the purpose of providing patients with appropriate, high quality, safe and effective dental care and treatment.
What is the Lawful Basis for processing Personal Data?​
The Law says we must tell you this:
-
We hold patients’ data because it is in our Legitimate Interest to do so. Without holding the data we cannot work effectively. [Also, we must hold data on NHS care and treatment as it is a Public Task required by law].
Who might we share your data with?
Most data is used only at the practice. We only share data if it is done securely and it is necessary to do so- for example with.
-
Your doctor
-
The hospital or community dental services or other health professionals caring for you (for example if we refer you to a specialist or need laboratory work undertaken)
-
NHS payment authorities
-
The Department for Work and Pensions and its agencies, where you are claiming exemption or remissions from NHS charges
-
Private dental schemes of which you are a member
We will only disclose your information on a need to know basis and will limit any information we share to the minimum necessary and make sure this is done securely.
In certain circumstances or if required by law we may need to disclose your information to a third party not connected to your healthcare, including HMRC or other law enforcement or government agencies.
Marketing – we will ask your permission to contact you with news and special offers about dental treatment we can provide.
Your Rights
You have the right to:
​
-
Be informed about the personal data we hold and why we hold it.
-
Access a copy of your data that we hold by contacting us directly in writing or by email: we will acknowledge your request and supply a response within one month or sooner. We do not usually charge you for copies of your information however if we pass on a charge we will explain the reasons.
-
Check the information we hold about you is correct and to make corrections if it is inaccurate
-
Have your data erased in certain circumstances although you should be aware that for legal reasons we may be unable to erase certain information (for example, information about your dental treatment)
-
Transfer your data to someone else if you tell us to do so and it is safe and legal to do so.
-
Tell us not to actively process or update your data in certain circumstances.
​
​
How long is the Personal Data stored for?
-
We will store patient data for as long as we are providing care, treatment or recalling patients for further care. We will archive (that is, store it without further action) for as long as is required for legal purposes as recommended by the NHS or other trusted experts recommend.
-
We must store employment data for six years after an employee has left.
-
We must store contractors’ data for seven years after the contract is ended.
​
What if I do not agree?
If you do not wish us to use your personal information as described, you should discuss the matter with your dentist. If you object to the way that we collect and use your information, we may not be able to continue to provide your dental care.
​
What if you are not happy or wish to raise a concern about our data processing?
If you do not wish us to use your personal information as described, you should discuss the matter with your dentist. If you wish to object to the way we collect and use your information we may not be able to continue to provide your dental care.
If you are not happy or wish to raise a concern please contact Dr Jasdeep, our Data Protection lead and she will do her best to resolve the matter.
​
And/or contact directly The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF (0303 123 1113 or 01625 545745).
​​
Date: 01/04/23
Review date: 01/04/24
​
​
Raising a Concern​
If you have any concerns about your experience at the practice and wish to make a complaint you may contact our Principal/Practice Manager who handles all patient complaints.
​
The Principal will oversee all complaints.
​
Every effort will be made to resolve any concerns about your experience at the practice in a caring and sensitive way. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the relevant bodies.
​
NHS Dental Treatment
For further information or advice you can contact the Patient Advice and Liason Service.
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT
Tel. 0300 311 22 33
​
Private Dental Treatment
Dental Complaints Service
Stephenson House
2 Cherry Orchard Road
Croydon
CR0 6BA
Tel. 08456 120 540
​