Refusing Access to Patients Policy

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The practice is committed to fulfilling a duty of care to protect staff and other patients and adheres to the NHS zero tolerance policy. This policy defines the practice guidance for refusing access to patients to minimise potential risk to other patients and staff. This policy applies to all team members, who are expected to familiarise themselves with the circumstances justifying the removal of patients from the list and appropriate procedures to follow. In cases of:

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• Unacceptable behaviour, including threatening behaviour, physical abuse, verbal abuse, race, gender or any other form of discrimination or other unreasonable behaviour
• Fraudulent or criminal behaviour, including deliberately obtaining drugs for non-medical reasons, attempting to use the dentist to conceal or aid criminal activity, stealing from practice premises

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Persistent missed appointments & lapsed patients

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When a patient fails to attend an appointment or cancels without giving 24 hours' notice, the patient will be sent a letter or email informing about the date of the missed appointment/s and the consequences of missing multiple appointments, including the information in the next point; if a patient fails to attend an appointment or cancels without 24 hours' notice three times, the patient may be informed that they will no longer have access to treatment at the practice

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Since the introduction of the current dental contract in 2006, there is no such thing are NHS registration.

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Patients can register with a dental practice, but this does not guarantee the entitlement of NHS care, which is at the discretion of the dental practice. We offer NHS care to patients 2 years from their last dental examination. This period allows us to follow NHS NICE guidance on recalls for a dental examination, which says that no more than 2 years should elapse between examination. The reason for this 2 period is to ensure that we maintain a sustainable business model, which allows us to offer continued NHS care to the patients who attend regularly, without creating a situation where their NHS care is withdrawn suddenly due to a shortfall in NHS funding. Registration at the practice without an NHS dental examination will not entitle you to NHS care. It is important to attend a dental examination on the NHS when you register as soon as possible. We may, on occasion, offer an emergency appointment on the NHS, but this does not constitute acceptance for regular dental appointments on the NHS. If 2 year period has lapsed, at this stage, you may wish to register at another dental practice that offers you NHS care, or you can stay registered with us as a Private patient for which you may be asked to pay for your appointment in advance.

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Copies of all correspondence regarding the refusal of access are filed and retained with the patient records.