DNA Policy (Missed Appointments)

Butler Village Medical Centre is committed to ensuring that the best possible service is provided to all Patients registered with the Practice. We understand that it can sometimes be difficult to get a routine appointment with a GP or Nurse however, one thing that makes this increasingly difficult to overcome is the problem of missed appointments ie DNAs. It is disappointing when an appointment is not utilised when a Patient does not turn up and has not contacted the Practice to cancel the appointment in order for it to be allocated to another.

Patient non-attendance at a booked appointment adversely impacts on Practice staff and its Patients in the following manner:

The DNA Patient takes the appointment slot of another Patient who could have attended. Increases waiting time for appointments.

The time and personnel required to follow-up and rebook DNA Patients diverts Practice staff from other duties and is therefore a waste of resources.

A DNA occurs when:

• An appointment is not attended;
• The Patient has not contacted the Practice in advance to cancel it or
• where the cancellation is so late that it makes it impossible to allocate that time to another Patient who needs treatment.

DNA Fee

Due to the high demand for appointments and the high number of non - attendances and cancellations for GP appointments, we will charge the following fees an appointment that is not attended or not cancelled within 2 hours of the appointment time.

$35 per general appointment

$70 for a long appointment

If there are two or more accounts not paid, a letter of suspension of services and the outstanding account will be issued. This letter will see your access to all services suspended until accounts are paid. There may also be the possibility of permanent suspension from the practice at the Doctors’ discretion for repeat offenders.

How to avoid a DNA

If you cannot attend or no longer need an appointment, please let us know in advance. We understand that mistakes do happen and that appointments can be forgotten or overlooked. In such cases, the Practice will take into account the reason given by Patients. However repeated offences are unacceptable.

Preference, of course, is for the Practice to know in advance so we can offer the appointments to other Patients in need.

If you need to cancel an appointment you can do this in any one of the following ways:

1. In person at the Reception Desk
2. Telephone: 08 6166 9133
3. Online- only applies if the appointment was booked online

Reducing DNAs

As a Practice we are doing our utmost to reduce DNAs as much as possible. If you make an appointment over the telephone, we would suggest that Patients’ record/document the date and time in a way that can be easily accessed — in a diary, on a calendar or on a mobile phone.

It is the Patient’s responsibility to:

• Advise the Practice of any change to their contact details
• Attend their arranged clinic appointment or reschedule with reasonable advanced notice.

To help us improve the system and make more appointments available for Patients to book routinely, please adhere to our Practice Policy.