Late Patient Policy

To help us provide a safe, efficient, and fair service to all patients, we ask that you arrive in good time for your appointment.

Patients who arrive more than 5 minutes after their scheduled appointment time will not be seen and will be required to rebook their appointment.

Late arrival can significantly affect clinic schedules and may result in delays for other patients. For this reason, we are unable to routinely accommodate patients who arrive after the permitted grace period.

If you believe your medical concern is urgent, please speak to a member of our reception team. Our Patient Liaison Team will contact the clinician to discuss the situation and determine the most appropriate next steps. Please note that this does not guarantee that you will be seen on the same day.

If the doctor has an urgent clinical need to see a particular patient, they will inform our Patient Liaison Team in advance that the patient may be "arrived" even if they arrive more than 5 minutes late. The patient will need to wait for a gap or the end of the surgery to be seen.

If a patient telephones in advance to say they will be late, this does not alter the policy. The receptionist will advise them on the phone that they should rebook if they will arrive later than 5 minutes, rather than waste a journey.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in helping us provide timely care to all patients.