Contact

Send us an Email

For further information on the services we provide or any other enquiry please fill out the form below.

For appointment requests please include your preferred date and time in the message box and we will confirm your appointment booking.

Emergency Care

In the event of an emergency please contact the practice immediately. During the working week, emergency appointments are available throughout each day. Should the problem occur at the weekend or a bank holiday please ring the practice for further instructions.

Complaints

We openly encourage and value the opinions of all those who visit Westleigh Dental Care. Should there be any reason why your experience was unsatisfactory, please get in touch with the practice immediately and we will strive to resolve the problem swiftly.

Any patients with a complaint about the service provided at Westleigh Dental Care, must in the first instance write or speak to their registered dentist. Please note we can only enter into correspondence or discussion with the patient concerned, or the parent or guardian of a patient under the age of 18. We cannot enter into correspondence or discussion with a third party.

Where a problem remains unresolved a formal written complaint should be sent and addressed to:

The Practice Manager
Westleigh Dental Care

Westleigh House
Westbury Road
Fareham
PO16 7XU

Our Practice Manager will investigate your complaint in line with our in-house complaints procedure. We will respond to the complaint within 10 working days and aim to resolve the matter speedily to everyone’s satisfaction.

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Patient Attendance Policy

May 2022

Introduction

This policy covers the attendance of patients to the practice and how this could affect their ability to access appointments.

Regular Attendance

We want to ensure patients receive and maintain the best quality of oral health care, and therefore require patients to visit the practice at least every 24 months for a comprehensive examination as suggested by NICE guidelines.

As a result, those who attend the practice regularly will be seen as a priority, over those who have not attended over the last 2 years.

We also reserve the right to refuse anyone an appointment who has not attended the practice within 2 years.

Deregistration

We will automatically deregister patients under any scheme when they have not attended the practice for a comprehensive examination as advised by NICE guidelines in the last 24 months.

This is actioned to ensure we provide the best quality dental care to our patients, encouraging them to come for examinations regularly, and ensuring we are giving new patients wanting to register, the opportunity to be treated.

Please note that the deregistration will take place automatically without any notice and Westleigh Dental Care WILL NOT be sending out de-registration letters.

As a courtesy we will always try to remind our patients of upcoming appointments by SMS or Email, however, this is not our responsibility to do so. Patients are responsible for the upkeep and scheduling of their own appointments.

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Appointment Management and Cancellation Policy

It is the aim of this practice to provide quality dental care to our patients and to use clinical time effectively. To achieve this aim, we have an appointment management and cancellation policy.

Management of appointments

We use modern telephone equipment, email and SMS to allow our patients to make or reschedule appointments easily. Our appointment system supports timely access to care and treatment, allows patients to access services at a time that suits them and minimises the length of time people have to wait. Appointments can be made or rescheduled by calling our dedicated appointments line on 01329 230256 or by emailing us at info@westleighdentalcare.uk.

Reminders

E-mail reminders are first sent to patients 1 week before any appointment, followed secondly by an SMS reminder 3 days before and patients are requested to inform the practice of any changes to their contact details, which are confirmed at each appointment. The reminders are a complimentary service and the practice can not be held accountable if a patient misses an appointment due to not receiving a reminder.

Cancellation or delay of an appointment by the practice

We will only cancel or delay a patient’s appointment in unavoidable circumstances. In such cases, we will take the following steps:

▪ The patient will be contacted as soon as the practice is aware of the need to cancel or delay the appointment. We will explain the reason for the cancellation or delay

▪ At the time of contact, the patient will be offered a new appointment at the earliest time available

▪ If the patient is unable to commit to a new appointment during that contact, we will ask them to get in touch at a later time, when we will offer them a priority appointment.

Cancellation of an appointment or missed appointment by a patient

Patients are requested to give at least 48 hours’ notice to cancel a dental appointment. If less than this is given, this will be classed as a late cancellation. Cancellations should be made by telephone at: 01329 230256 or by email to info@westleighdentalcare.co.uk.

Late cancellations and missed appointments represent a cost to the practice, as other patients could have been seen in the allotted time set aside.

For this reason, the following applies:-

For an appointment cancelled with less than 48 hours’ notice, or if an appointment is missed altogether with no prior cancellation, a 50% non-refundable deposit is required to be paid before the next appointment when booking.

If you then miss again, this deposit will be lost and 100% payment upfront is required for the next appointment when booking.

If you miss an appointment for a third time, full payment will be lost and you will be de-registered from the practice.

This policy strictly applies to all patients whether on plan or pay-as-you-go private.

We understand that cancellations are sometimes unavoidable due to illness or emergencies and we will take account of all valid circumstances.

Any appeals about missed or cancelled appointment decisions by a patient
should be made in writing to the Practice Manager, Paul Lees.

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Repeated Failed Payments on Plan

If set up on a dental payment plan, patients are required to pay monthly by direct debit, to remain
on the plan and to receive its benefits.

If a patient defaults on a payment, insurance cover will cease from the date of the first failed
payment and Westleigh Dental Care will inform you that your plan has been cancelled.

If you fail to reinstate payment of the monthly fees including the missed payment when notified and
are removed from the plan, any outstanding treatments will be charged at the full price of the
original treatment cost.

If a patient defaults on 2 payments during the duration of their plan, Westleigh Dental Care will
inform you that your plan has been cancelled and you will not be allowed to re-join a plan at the
practice in future.

If you wish to stay at the practice, you will have to remain a private pay-as-you-go patient.