NHS Patients

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The practice is now accepting new NHS patients, for both adults and children. Please note that NHS appointments are available exclusively with designated dentists who currently have capacity. For further information, please contact our reception team.

Since the changes to all NHS dental contracts which took place in 2006, NHS dental registration is no longer available. Having an account with us does not guarantee ongoing NHS dental treatment

We can offer NHS appointments to patients who have had a check-up with us in the last four years. This allows us to follow NHS NICE guidelines on recalls, which says that “no more than 2 years should elapse between examinations”. We have also added a 2-year grace period due to COVID, for patients to return to see us.

This approach helps us keep a sustainable business so we can continue offering NHS care to our regular patients. This helps ensure NHS care remains available despite funding shortages

NHS funding is provided annually on the basis that the practice achieves a specific activity target. Failure to hit this target may result in a withdrawal of funding. With this being said, we are also required to stay within the given target for our surgery. and therefore must allow the NHS availability to be reserved predominantly for our regular attenders.

Then, if the surgery has the capacity to take on new NHS patients throughout the year, we will open this in small phases. This will make sure that we are not allowing the practice to become overwhelmed with new NHS patients.

Holding an account with our nhs dentists without an appointment does not mean you are entitled to NHS routine care with us. We therefore advise all patients to book their recommended recall with the surgery as soon as possible. Or when leaving your last check up to avoid ‘lapsing’ from the system.

If patients lapse, they can rejoin our NHS list after completing one private treatment course and being signed off as dentally fit. The practice will always attempt to send a dental reminder at least 48 hours before your scheduled appointment. However, we will not remind you when you are due to book in. We ask patients to update their contact details so they don’t miss our reminders.

What happens if I fail my appointment or cancel at short notice?

If you cancel with less than 24 hours’ notice or miss your first NHS appointment, we’re unlikely to offer a rebooking.

For our regular patients, our FTA (failed to attend) and short notice cancellation policy is very clear. If you cancel with less than 24 hours’ notice or miss more than 3 appointments, we’ll ask you to seek NHS care elsewhere.

Patients removed from our NHS list can choose to continue with us privately. For all private appointments, you will be asked to pay a deposit. Typically, this is usually 50% of the cost of the appointment. The deposit is then retained by the practice if the appointment is cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice or failed to attend.

We understand things happen, but please try to let us know before your appointment. As well as calling the practice, you can send us an email. You can also contact us on all social media sites linked at the top of this page. You can also respond to your text reminder, which the reception team will then pick up.

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Get in touch with us today on 01245 354046

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