Terms of Business

Terms of Business

APPOINTMENTS
Appointments can be made by phone or in person, we operate a patient recall service to encourage our patients to attend regularly and remind you when your next dental examination is due.
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We kindly request a minimum of 24 hours’ notice for the cancellation or rescheduling of appointments so the appointment can be offered to another patient. Failure to give a least 24 hours' notice will mark your appointment as a 'failed' appointment and failure to attend two appointments within a 12 month period will result in your name being removed from our NHS list at the surgery. Exceptions will be given for bereavement or serious illness.

If you require an emergency appointment we recommend you contact the surgery at 9am and every effort will be made to see you as soon as possible.

NHS Choices: If you feel unhappy about the treatment you receive you may request to see a different dentist at the practice other than your usual provider.

PAYMENT METHODS
We accept the following payment methods
•   Master Card
•   Maestro
•   Visa
•   Visa Electron
•   Contactless
•   Apple pay

We accept all major credit/ debit cards except American express

DATA PROTECTION AND CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY

You have the right to confidentiality. This practice is committed to complying with the Data Protection Act 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR),GDC, NHS and other data protection requirements relating to our work. We only keep relevant information about patients to provide them with safe and appropriate health care. Dental healthcare personnel have a requirement under their professional code of ethics to keep records about you confidential, secure and accurate.

All of our staff contracts of employment contain a requirement to keep patient Information confidential.

COMPLAINTS

If you feel dissatisfied with the service that has been provided at the practice, please contact the practice manager, Bernadette Birch. This can be done in person, telephone or email we will endeavour to resolve the complaint in accordance to the practice complaint policy.

We take complaints very seriously and have an effective procedure to resolve any problems in the shortest possible time. You can read more about our procedure in our complaints policy. We always want to have satisfied patients. If you feel the complaint hasn't been resolved you may contact NHS England on 0300 311 22 33 or email: england.contactus@nhs.net

ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY

You should expect that our staff treat you with courtesy at all times. The staff work very hard on behalf of our patients and therefore we expect that they have the right to work in a safe environment.

For this reason, Thomas & Thomas Dental Associates are committed to the NHS Zero Tolerance Policy. No form of violence or abuse is acceptable whether it be towards the staff or any other person on practice premises.

If a patient commits an act of violence against any dentist, member of staff, patient, or any other person present in the surgery or behaves in such a way that any of these fear for their safety, It will result in him/ her being removed from our patient list and the incident being reported to the police.

COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS AND COMPLIMENTS
We welcome comments, suggestions and compliments so that we can continually improve our service to you. Please contact the practice manager, Bernadette Birch, in person or by phone, letter or email if you have a comment, suggestion or compliment.