Patient Charter

Our patient charter is a statement of how our clinic operates and the standards of care that we apply to all of our patients. However patient cooperation is required to maintain these standards and therefore the charter also defines the patients responsibilities to the clinic.

We will:

• Communicate with patients in a clear, courteous, friendly and professional manner
• Provide a quiet, safe environment for patients who find accessing dental care difficult due to learning disabilities, neurodivergence and dementia
• Provide the highest standards of infection control to ensure your safety
• Listen to your dental problems, offer solutions and explain clearly the treatment options available to you
• Furnish you with a clear and written estimate of your treatment including the costs involved
• Respect your dignity, the choices you make and your confidentiality at all times
• Provide patients with the standard of care that we would expect to receive ourselves
• Refer patients for further professional advise and treatment where appropriate to colleagues with specialities outside our scope of practice
• Ensure that we keep our professional skills and knowledge up-to-date
• Work as a team to deliver a reliable and easily accessible dental care model
• Ensure that patients are seen on time and wait no longer than 15 minutes
• Manage our appointment system so that treatment appointments are booked no more than 4 weeks ahead
• Provide any urgent treatment required during practice hours as soon as is reasonably practicable
• Deal with every telephone call and voice mail message promptly
• Deal with written correspondence within 5 working days of receipt
• Make patients aware of our policy for collecting fees. Requests for payment will always be made courteously and in advance of your appointment
• Make the practice policy for dealing with complaints known to patients. All complaints will be treated sympathetically and according to the agreed procedures

In return, we would like you to:

• Treat our staff courteously; they will do their best to help meet your needs. Violent or abusive patients will not be seen at our practice
• Ensure all contact details we hold for you are kept up to date
• Accurately complete a new medical history at the onset of every new course of treatment
• Children must be accompanied by an adult who has legally recognised parental responsibility for all examinations and urgent appointments. In the case of a looked after child an in-date care order must be available.
• Participate in your dental treatment, particularly any advise about prevention and diet that we have asked you to continue at home
• Respect our appointment times and how we deliver our dental care model
• Arrive on time for your appointment. Please give the practice at least 24 hours notice if you are unable to keep your appointment. We may charge for missed appointments where we have not been notified. For NHS patients if you miss an appointment without letting us know, we may need to review future provision of NHS treatment for you at the practice
• Return to the practice for routine recall appointments as requested by the dentist or therapist. Whilst we will endeavour to send a recall reminder the responsibility lies with the patient
• Active NHS patients must attend their dental examinations regularly. Failing to attend for an examination for 2 years will result in losing their NHS status and place
• Active NHS patients must be aware that their NHS status is subject to government funding availability