Premier Cardiology is committed to providing a high standard of care in a timely manner. As we deal with patients with acute cardiac issues, chest pain and problematic rhythm disturbances, there is always a high demand for timely appointments. Last minute cancellations are unfair to the intent of service provision and to those who would have appreciated the opportunity of a consultation or test.
As a courtesy to other patients who need to see the Cardiologist or have a cardiac test please confirm your attendance when you receive the texts or phone call from the practice. You will receive an advance reminder of your appointment/test one month prior to your appointment. You will also receive a text reminder one week before. Please ensure you have replied to these texts. We are amazed at how many people ‘forget’ so we thank you for your tolerance of 2 confirmations. Unfortunately as the number of patients forgetting to attend or not replying to texts, or returning calls from our practice has increased over the past 18 months we have found ourselves instigating a new policy whereby if you have not confirmed your appointment 48hrs in advance – we will cancel your appointment and offer it to a patient on the waiting list. Please understand that your appointment is important to us to enable us to deliver the best care we can for you and other patients.
For appointments that are cancelled within 24 hours or if you do not attend or forget your appointment you will need to pay a deposit for your next booking. The deposit amount will depend on the nature of your booking and will be put towards your next appointment. Some tests such as echocardiograms and stress echocardiograms involve multiple staff, as well as the Cardiologist, and failure to give adequate cancellation notice will result in a higher fee.
Should you wish to rebook your appointment this will be done at the earliest, convenient time available.
If you are running late for your appointment please call the practice as soon as possible as this can impact subsequent appointments. We will attempt to smooth out the problem as much as we can to minimize delays to others, however you may then have to wait on your arrival to the rooms for your appointment.
Many Specialist Medical Practices now enforce pre-payment for appointments when making a booking. Patients who consistently do not attend or forget appointments unfortunately lead practices to introduce this system. We hope that by having this cancellation policy our patients understand the need for timely cancellations and hence we do not need to enforce a pre-payment system in the future.
As our practice gets busier our values remain the same – to provide a friendly, quality and patient focused cardiology service. Thank you for trusting Premier Cardiology with all your cardiac, imaging and testing needs.
EXCEPTIONS: We understand that exceptional circumstances may arise, such as emergencies, accidents or sudden illness that prevent you from adhering to our cancellation policy. In such cases we encourage you to contact us as soon as possible to explain the situation. We will handle these circumstances on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the nature of the circumstances and historical behaviour.