Patient Agreement

At Far Headingley Dental Care we aim to provide high quality dental treatment in a safe and friendly environment. This agreement (which we require all our patients to sign) gives details of our key terms and conditions of the service we provide. The purpose of this is to ensure clarity and reduce any ambiguity. If you have any questions or need any clarification please do not hesitate to speak to a member of our team.

Our Team

All of our clinical team members (excluding apprentice dental nurses) are registered with the GDC (General Dental Council) and are therefore compliant with regular training and updates following the GDC’s continued professional development recommendations.

Medical History and Personal Details

We ask all of our patients to complete a medical history form. This is very important as some medication and/or health conditions may affect your dental health. Should these change in any way it is very important for you to tell your clinician. It is your responsibility to inform the clinician of changes in either your health, medication or personal details such as address or telephone contact numbers.

If you have any disability you think we need to be aware of please contact the practice before your appointments and we will try to make suitable arrangements to meet your needs. Please note that there are a few steps to go up to enter the surgery, if you need any assistance please let us know.

All your personal details are stored securely in accordance with the Data Protection Act. No clinical or personal details will be released to a third party without your written consent. All clinical notes, radiographs, and photographs remain the property of Far Headingley Dental Care. Copies of this information can be made available on written request. We reserve the right to charge an administration fee.

You may be contacted by the practice via the phone, text, e-mail or letter with regards to routine recalls, appointment reminders, special offers or changes at the practice. If you do not wish to be contacted by the practice by any of these means please let us know.

Dental Treatment

Treatment provided at Far Headingley Dental Care is provided on a private basis only. We aim for each patient to see the same clinician on a continuing basis. If for any reason your clinician is not available, we will make arrangements for you to see another clinician within the practice. Please ask should you wish to see an alternative clinician.

After a dental examination, any further dental treatment you require or have chosen to have will be discussed with the clinician and a full written estimate will be provided. Due to the subjective and personal nature of dentistry please be aware that treatment plans once started can change, if this occurs, this will be discussed with you and a new plan will be provided.

All dental treatment provided (excluding dental hygiene) has a guarantee of 12 months, providing you have paid for the treatment in full, damage isn’t as a result of accident, trauma, secondary decay or root infection and all post treatment recommendations have been followed. Please note that specific treatments may have different guarantee criteria e.g. Teeth Whitening. Please ask for details when signing dental treatment plans.

Treatment plans and their associated costs are valid for three months from your examination date. Should a treatment plan lapse you will be asked to make a review appointment before the commencement of treatment. If the cost of treatment has increased, this will be reflected in a revised treatment plan.

We provide some treatments that require further consent forms due to the complexity of the treatment being provided. Should these be required your clinician will inform you.

Should you have a dental emergency please call the practice. If this is in normal working hours please try to call as early as possible after we open and we will do our best to offer you a same day appointment. If the emergency is not urgent you will be offered the next available appointment. If the practice is closed, our answer machine message will provide information about our out of hours service. Same day emergency appointments are only available to our registered patients who attend regularly for examinations and may not be offered if your registration with us has lapsed and you have not attended for over 18 months.

We are not registered to do any home visits.

Should you require a translator or chaperone please speak to your clinician or member of our team.

Dental Fees

Fees for dental treatment are due on completion of each item of treatment.

Payment methods accepted are:
Cash
Debit Card
Credit Card (£150 minimum spend)
We do not accept payment by cheque.

Payment for treatment must be made on the day of treatment and paid for either in advance of the treatment or before leaving the practice. The practice reserves the right to charge a £10 a day fee for any treatment not paid for either in advance, or before leaving the practice.

Any unpaid accounts will be referred to a debt collection agency who may in turn seek to reclaim any monies owed through the UK County Court.

To avoid wasted surgery time through missed appointments (and the cost then having to be unfairly distributed across our dental fees), it is our practice policy that we take a deposit for all treatment appointments before we can book your appointment. Deposits are deductible off the cost of treatment, and will be kept if the appointment is missed. You may also be asked to pay in advance for all appointments should you have missed appointments previously, and we reserve the right to refuse treatment if patients regularly fail to attend appointments or if there are problems with making payments.

Monthly payment plans are available at the practice. Should you wish to join a payment budgeting plan please speak to one of our team. If the membership is cancelled within a 6 month period or the direct debit payments fail you will be liable to repay any discount given on dental treatment.

Cancellations and Failed Appointments

Far Headingley Dental Care requires a minimum of 24 hours’ notice for cancellations of appointments arranged with a dentist. We require 48 hours’ notice to cancel an appointment with our dental hygienist or for appointments over 1 hour. This is due to the high demand of these appointments.

Failure to give the appropriate notice of cancellation will result in a charge or a deposit being retained. The fee is proportionate to the length of time arranged for your appointment. Cancellation fees must be settled before any other appointment can be arranged.

Appointments can be cancelled or rescheduled via telephone: 0113 2751323 or via email enquiries@fhdc.co.uk. We do not accept cancellations via text message or any social media platform.

Should you be running late to your appointment please notify the practice. If this is longer than 5 minutes you may be asked to reschedule your appointment as it will be likely that there will be other appointments afterwards where the patient should not be inconvenienced.

Photography and Radiographs

Photographs and radiographs are taken through dental examinations and treatment to aid diagnosis and help maintain a record of treatment. We may use your photos, radiographs or testimonials on our website to help explain and promote our treatment. These images will not identify you as an individual unless we have asked your permission to do so. If you do not wish for your images to be used please let us know.

Complaints

We aim to make your visit as pleasant as possible. We will always ensure that a complaint is taken seriously and investigated thoroughly. Complaints can be made in writing or via the telephone. Any complaint we receive shall be acknowledged within 3 working days.

For a copy of our full complaints procedure please speak to a member of our team.

Treatment of our Team

We operate a policy of zero tolerance of abuse both physically and verbally to all our team members. In return we will treat you with respect, care and dignity.

If a patient is deemed abusive, we reserve the right to refuse treatment and contact with the practice.

Practice Grounds, Parking & Cycle Storage

Users of the car park and cycle storage do so at their own risk. The management will not accept any liability for damage, accident or loss. Care should be taken when using any of the practice’s facilities. The practice does not accept responsibility for any damages, accidents or losses. Please note that the access road to the practice is a private road that is uneven. Unfortunately, whilst we have a right of access, we do not own this road and are not able to maintain or repair it. On street parking is available as an alternative in the local area.

Feedback

We actively encourage you to leave feedback regarding your experience at our practice. This can be done using patient testimonials and/or our feedback questionnaire.

We may ask you from time to time to fill in a feedback questionnaire to monitor our services.

(Last updated 21.1.18)