New Patient Acceptance Policy

We accept all NHS fee-paying patients.

The practice does not refuse to treat anyone on the grounds of:

Race

Religion

Gender

Sexual orientation

Appearance

Disability

Medical or Dental Condition

England

We offer NHS-exempt treatments for the following categories:

Children under 18 years of age;

Patients who are under 19 years of age and in full-time education.

If you don't belong to the above categories, you will be classified as a fee-paying patient.

NHS patients must sign a form at the beginning and end of each treatment. All patients exempt from paying NHS fees will be asked to show proof of benefit received.

Continuity of care

You will be advised which dentist you will see when you book your first appointment.

In subsequent appointments, you will be offered the first available dentist unless you request a particular dentist. We will try our best to accommodate you.

Some of our practices have only one dentist. However, if we must place a locum dentist on that site (e.g., illness, holidays), you will be advised of this change.

Due to the high demand for NHS dental treatment and our limited capacity, keeping up to date with your regular dental appointments is essential to remaining an active patient. Any patient who has not attended for over two years will be removed from our current NHS patient list and may need to join a waiting list.

King Street Dental recommends booking the next appointment before you leave the practice to ensure you don’t forget. We will aim to remind patients of their upcoming appointments either via phone, text or email depending on your recorded preferences. It is also recommended that you keep us informed if your contact details change, such as when you move house, so that our communications are received.

Patient information policies & terms

NHS Registration and Waiting List Policy 

Access & Emergency Treatment Policy

Payment & Refund Policy

Cancellations, Failed and Missed Appointments

Drugs and Alcohol Policy

King Street Dental is open to treat patients during the following hours

Monday - Friday : 9.00am-1.00pm & 2.00pm-5.00pm 

Patients who feel they have a dental emergency will be assessed at the point of contact (either over the telephone or face-to-face at reception). The practice is under no obligation to see patients with toothache. Toothache is not classed as an emergency (see below for emergency definitions).

At King Street Dental, we will endeavour to see patients with pain, swelling or trauma within 48 hours of initial contact, where possible. This applies to patients who attend examinations regularly. If we are working at full capacity at any given time, we will manage the patient and refer them to another service if necessary.

Patients undergoing treatment who have pain or swelling will be offered an appointment within 24 hours of initial contact.

During out-of-hours, an answer phone message advises patients of help available. Everyone can access help and advice 24 hours a day through the NHS 111 service. Details will also be displayed at the entrance to the practice. This information will always be correct and up to date.

If you are a Denplan patient and you have a dental emergency out of hours and you are away from the practice location, you can contact the Denplan emergency helpline on 0800 844 999.

If you are a private patient and have a dental emergency out of hours, please call 01565 632343, where you will be put through to an emergency dentist on call.

Please note we cannot guarantee it will be your usual provider as emergency cover out of hours may be on a rota basis between other registered private practices within the UK.

Definition of emergencies

Red flag symptoms - recommended to go to A+E (Leighton or Wythenshawe).

Fractured jaws – affects speech, teeth may not meet properly, swelling inside mouth, limited mobility, pain etc. Most commonly happens after an accident, blow to the chin etc.

Uncontrolled Bleeding - Any bleeding that cannot be controlled by firm continuous pressure from a pack for 10 minutes may need suturing. This most commonly happens after an extraction or due to an infection, alcohol, aspirin, drugs, etc.

Loss of consciousness – No matter how brief, anyone who was unresponsive may have suffered internal brain damage that could worsen if left without investigation. Most commonly happens after a blow to the head or accident.

Urgent appointment - seen in the practice within 48 hours, includes pain not relieved by pain killers, sharp teeth lacerating soft tissues, broken front teeth where there is significant cosmetic concern.

All other emergencies - you may be recommended to wait until your next routine review or booked a routine review appointment at a suitable time interval.

Payment Method

All major debit and credit cards are accepted.

Payments

Treatment is provided on a “pay as you go” basis. Patients are required to settle fees for each treatment item or appointment as they progress through their treatment plan.
For longer or more complex treatments, a deposit may be required in advance.
All payments for delivered treatment are non-refundable.

Cancellations & Missed Appointments

Patients are asked to provide a minimum of 48 hours’ notice if they need to cancel or reschedule an appointment.
Failure to attend, or cancellation at short notice (less than 48 hours), may incur a charge of £300 per hour of the reserved clinical time.
Denplan Patients
If you are a Denplan registered patient and you either fail to attend, or cancel at short notice (less than 48 hours’ notice): You will forgo that examination or hygiene visit until your next routine interval.
If you wish to rebook your missed appointment, an additional fee will apply:
- £63 – Examination
- £99 – Check & Clean
- £89 – Hygiene Visit

Guarantees of Dental Work

Our practice is committed to providing high-quality care. Where applicable, the following guarantees apply:
Definitive fillings - guaranteed for 6 months.
Crowns and bridges - guaranteed for 12 months.
Implant restorations - guaranteed for 12 months.
Other treatments: Extractions, temporary fillings, whitening, periodontal treatment, and all other treatment items are not guaranteed.

Conditions of Guarantee

The guarantee is valid only if the patient attends all recommended check-ups and hygiene appointments as advised by their dentist.
The guarantee does not cover damage caused by trauma, new decay, gum disease, underlying health issues, or failure to follow professional advice.

Review

This policy is subject to periodic review to ensure it remains clear, fair, and aligned with best practice standards.

Change of Details

You must inform the practice immediately of any changes to your contact details. Failure to do so will mean that we are not able to provide you with essential information and updates.

Cancellation of Courses of Treatment

If, for any reason, a course of treatment is cancelled, then we will make every reasonable effort to give the patient as much notice as possible. King Street Dental’s maximum liability will be limited to a refund of the advance payment fee ONLY. Refunds will be made using the method used to make the treatment booking. We will not accept liability for any additional costs or losses incurred by a patient or organisation which are claimed to have arisen through treatment cancellation. We reserve the right to vary arrangements for the delivery of a treatment plan and, in such cases, will make reasonable efforts to inform patients in advance.

Cancellation by the Patient

You may cancel a course of treatment for which you have booked an appointment and be fully refunded all fees for treatment not yet performed, provided you give the practice a minimum of 48 hours prior notice.

If 48 hours prior notice is not received, we reserve the right to withhold a proportionate amount of money, based upon the length of the appointment, to cover overheads.

This does not apply to NHS appointments, but we reserve the right to discontinue future care under the NHS.

We will refund the money to patients who wish to discontinue treatment at any time. A notice period of 14 days is required, upon which they will be eligible for a refund of any amount paid for treatment that they did not receive.

If a patient is receiving any treatment that involves laboratory work and initial work has been carried out; i.e. if the patient is having crowns/bridges or a denture made, and the work has already been started or completed by the laboratory, a proportion of the fee taken on the preparation appointment will be kept to cover the cost of the laboratory invoice.

Please be aware that for NHS courses of treatments, the proportion of the fee is set by the NHS Business Services Authority, not the Practice.

Refunds will be processed within 14 days after receipt of your request in writing, either by e-mail or post:

If you have paid for services not yet provided that do not involve a laboratory fee, we will either credit your account or refund the transaction paid using the method by which the original payment was made. If the method was cash and you cannot collect the refund in person, it will be posted to you in the form of a cheque.

It is inevitable that sometimes you may need to cancel or rearrange your dental appointments.

We ask patients to give as much notice as possible when cancelling an appointment so we have the opportunity to offer it to someone else. Although we understand that during an emergency, this is not always possible, non-attendance and cancellations at short notice without a valid reason deprive other patients of our services.

The first time a patient fails to attend a booked appointment, we will send a letter or e-mail reminding them that they must cancel appointments if they cannot attend in the future.

After failed to attend letters or e-mails, we will advise you that we will no longer be able to book further appointments without prior payment to secure the appointment.

An appointment is considered to have been broken if any of the following occur:

the patient fails to show up for the appointment,

the patient appears more than 20 minutes late for a scheduled appointment or,

the patient calls to cancel an appointment with too little advance notice to allow that appointment time to be rescheduled with another patient (48 hours will be considered the minimum time necessary to avoid a broken appointment).

Patients who wish to cancel dental appointments must do so at least 48 hours before the appointment. If less notice is given without a valid excuse, the appointment will be considered to have been broken.  Failure to attend, or cancellation at short notice (less than 48 hours), may incur a charge of £300 per hour of the reserved clinical time.

Cancellations due to illness

If you are showing symptoms of a stomach bug or a respiratory illness, including COVID, please let us know so we can rearrange your appointment for when you are feeling better. This also helps to keep our staff and other patients safe. The standard cancellation period will not apply in these circumstances.

Cold Sore Policy

Cold sores are common for many people in the UK. Like all viruses, they are contagious and pose a risk to others. The herpes simplex virus is spread through contact.

Cold sores usually emerge as a small ulcer-like patch on or surrounding the lip line. They can appear in a matter of hours and, depending on the severity, typically take between seven days and four weeks to heal. From the time they begin to emerge to the point at which they are fully healed, they pose a contagion risk.

At King Street Dental, we ask patients that if they have had a cold sore for less than 2 weeks, please reschedule any non-emergency dental treatment or hygienist appointments until after this contagious period has passed. This is not only because of the high risk of spreading the virus but also because your lips may feel sore and could crack or bleed during treatment.

If urgent dental treatment is required (you are in pain and need immediate attention), our dentists will request that your cold sore be protected with a cold sore plaster to minimise the risk of cross-infection during emergency dental treatment.

If you do get a cold sore and you have a dental or hygienist appointment arranged, please call the practice with as much notice as possible to reschedule any non-emergency treatment. You will not be charged a late cancellation fee if you cancel due to a cold sore.

At King Street Dental, we listen to and learn from patients' views. We communicate with patients in a courteous, friendly, professional manner.

Patients receive the standard of care we would expect to receive ourselves, and we ensure that they receive full information about our services, their treatment, and its cost.

We may refer patients for further professional advice and treatment where appropriate, and we are committed to maintaining our professional skills and knowledge.

In our practice, we will:

Respect our patients’ confidentiality

Aim to ensure that patients should have to wait no longer than 20 minutes to be seen.

Manage our appointment system so that treatment appointments are booked no more than 2 weeks ahead.

Deal with every telephone call promptly – callers will not be asked to ‘hold’ without first discovering why the call has been made.

Deal with correspondence within three working days of receipt.

Provide patients with a treatment plan and estimate costs for each new course of treatment. Full and specific consent will be gained.

Make patients aware of our policy for collecting fees. Payment requests will always be made courteously.

Patients will be informed of the practice policy for dealing with complaints. All complaints will be treated sympathetically and according to the agreed-upon procedures.

Provide the highest standards of infection control

Provide any emergency treatment required during practice hours as soon as is reasonably practicable.

The safety of our staff and patients is of utmost importance. Treating patients who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol can be dangerous for several reasons, including:

difficulty in gaining informed consent

the possibility that post-operative instructions will be forgotten

increased bleeding risk

If we suspect a patient is chemically impaired, either through alcohol or drugs, including prescription drugs, which may cause impairment, we will be unable to treat the patient and will ask to reschedule the appointment.

Bad Debt Policy

Zero Tolerance Policy

Staff treating patients have the right to work free from any threat or fear of abuse, violence or forms of aggression.

The NHS nationally has agreed to a zero-tolerance policy.

Unacceptable behaviour which will not be tolerated within the dental practice includes:

Actual or threatened physical violence on staff or other patients.

Psychological abuse of staff

Verbal abuse, which includes shouting or swearing

Racial abuse

Sexual harassment or abuse

Threats against practice personnel which occur in the workplace

Theft or damage of practice property

Taking drugs or alcohol on the premises

If any patient is abusive or violent towards any staff member or other persons on the practice premises, the practice retains the right to remove the patient from its list. In extreme cases, the police may also be contacted.

All incidents must be reported to {Practice Manager} and recorded within the Significant Events Log. Any injuries will be recorded in the accident book.

Staff treating patients have the right to work free from any threat or fear of abuse, violence or forms of aggression.

The NHS nationally has agreed to a zero-tolerance policy.

Unacceptable behaviour which will not be tolerated within the dental practice includes:

Actual or threatened physical violence on staff or other patients.

Psychological abuse of staff

Verbal abuse, which includes shouting or swearing

Racial abuse

Sexual harassment or abuse

Threats against practice personnel which occur in the workplace

Theft or damage of practice property

Taking drugs or alcohol on the premises

All incidents must be reported to {Practice Manager} and recorded within the Significant Events Log. Any injuries will be recorded in the accident book.