Missed Appointments & Late Cancellations Policy

Non-attendance and last minute cancellations have a significant impact on appointment availability at the practice; over the last 12 months more than 4000 appointments were lost at Guildowns due to patients failing to attend an appointment with us. This equates to an average 77 appointments wasted every single week. Addtionally we frequently have same day cancellations made too late for us to allocate that time to another patient who needs treatment.  The loss of this clinical time causes longer waiting times for all patients and so it is vital that we keep this to a minimum.

We therefore require a minimum of 24 hours notice should you wish to cancel or reschedule your appointment. There are a number of ways you can cancel or change an appointment for your ease:

• Follow the link on your text message appointment reminders to cancel;
• Visit https://www.guildowns.nhs.uk/services/activity/cancel-an-appointment
• Cancel via the NHS App 
• Telephone us on 01483 409 309 
• Visit us in person and ask at front desk

The practice reserves the right to remove patients from our list if they either fail to attend, or cancel appointments without giving the required notice, three times within a 12 month period.

We will contact patients about repeated non-attendance or late cancellations before removing them from our list, if you are experiencing ongoing difficulties in keeping appointments please discuss this with us. No patient will be removed from the practice list without due consideration of their individual circumstances and reasons for missing appointments.