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.
As a practice, we encourage patients to give as much notice as possible when cancelling appointments.
Our policy Failed to Attend Policy (FTAs)
New NHS Patients First time Appointment
- No further appointments will be made on NHS.
- Happy to see them as private patient. PVT Fees will be charged upfront.
Existing NHS Patients:
First failed appointment (FTAs) or cancelled with less than 24hours notice.
- An SMS or email will be sent asking you to contact practice and rebook the appointment and that further failure will be result in deregistration.
2nd failed appointment (FTA’s) within 1 year or cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice.
- You will be sent a letter of deregistration and will not be accepted for any further NHS course of treatment at the practice.
- 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.
Text and Emails Reminders
To help our patients and remind you of booked appointments, we offer a free text and emails. All texts and emails are logged when successfully sent.
- It is your responsibility to check your text messages and emails, and to inform us of any changes to your contact details, including your phone number, email address, or postcode.
- We will assume that you have received your reminder. Please note that text and email reminders are sent as a courtesy, not a necessity. It remains your responsibility to attend your appointment on time. Failure of the reminder system for any reason is not considered a valid reason for failing to attend your appointment.
Violent or Abusive Behaviour
Any violent or abusive behaviour will result in immediate withdrawal from practice.
Reviewed by: Deepak Kumar
Date: 01/04/2024
