Blue Flame Wellness
Cancellation / DNA Policy
Before cancelling an appointment, consider if a Telehealth appointment is an option for you.
We ask that our clients give us at least 48 hours notice (of the business week).
Rationale Behind Our Notice Period:
- A good timeframe allows us to fill the appointment with another client on our waitlist. Most clients need time to discuss and make plans with work or home to be able to say yes to an appointment.
- Psychology services all over Australia are under immense pressure as the need for therapy is much greater than the number of psychologists and therapy hours available. Due to this great need, session availability is highly valued, and we want to avoid wasted opportunity for someone to receive help.
- Another good point to think on is the task of filling a late cancellation. This requires significant time & resources from our administrative staff who can spend quite a number of hours each week contacting clients on our waitlists and working on appointment schedules.
- Blue Flame Wellness charges a Late Cancellation / Did Not Arrive fee recommended by the Australian governing body for Psychology (APS) for all psychology practices.
- The Office of Fair Trading states that a business is within its rights to charge a cancellation or “no-show” fee for appointments, so long as this has been communicated to a new patient or customer before making the appointment. Our Cancellation Policy is not just on this website but in every 'Appointment Confirmation' email, 'Appointment Reminder' email and in the intake form clients fill out and sign.
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A late cancellation, a late rescheduling or failure to attend is a loss to three people:
1. The client who is delaying their therapy progress.
2. Another client who has been on the waiting list for an extended period of time.
3. The psychologist who set aside the time in their calendar, spent time preparing for the session
and now experiences lost income.
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Fee Structure:
- Less than 48 hours in a business week: incurs a 50% administrative fee of the current session price.
- Less than 24 hours in a business week: incurs a 100% administrative fee of the current session price.
- Not arriving for your session incurs a 100% fee of the current session price.
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A Business Week is Monday-Friday and does not include the weekends or Public Holidays.
Example: if you would like to cancel your appointment on a Monday at 1pm without incurring a charge, you will need to make the cancellation on the previous Thursday before 1pm. This is considered to be 48hrs of a business week.
Blue Flame Wellness policy further states:
- Our clients are responsible for managing their own bookings / appointment schedule. Blue Flame Wellness does try to remind clients regularly to book sessions if needed but in the end cannot be held responsible for monitoring regular bookings on behalf of clients. The onus is on the client to make and keep up regular bookings according to their needs.
- Clients receive multiple reminders of upcoming sessions, i.e.: a confirmation email, a reminder email and a reminder SMS from Blue Flame Wellness for each appointment. This is a courtesy and not a requirement or right.
- Clients are welcome to ask us to email their appointment schedule at any time.
- Emergencies: We understand that the unexpected happens to us all. If a client is experiencing an emergency, please contact our rooms immediately to discuss it with us or leave a message and we will be able to make the relevant changes. It will be to the discretion of management if a fee will be charged.
Please note that an emergency is considered to be extenuating circumstances outside of your control, which gave you no choice but to cancel your session with us. Should the client be aware of an illness / emergency more than 48 hrs (of the business week) before the session time and fail to cancel the appointment within the requested time frame, fees will still be incurred.
- All outstanding fees need to be fully paid no less than 48 hours (of the business week) before the next appointment or the result will be the cancellation of the upcoming appointment.
- Should a client develop a pattern of cancellations or have 2 or more late cancellations, moving forwards a sick note may be required and/or payment 48 hours (of the business week) before the next upcoming session.
- Should a client have 3 consecutive late cancellations or "did not arrive" sessions, all future sessions will be cancelled and the clients file archived.
- Should you be aware of your illness / emergency more than 48 hours (of the business week) before your session time and fail to cancel your appointment within the requested time frame, fees will still be incurred.
- This policy will be updated regularly and available on our website and other correspondence. Blue Flame Wellness will consider any bookings made or kept after the changes / updates to act as an acceptance of the updated policy.
- Due to legislation, under no circumstances can we submit this administrative fee to Medicare, Workcover or your Private Health Fund.
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We appreciate and encourage good communication so should you have any questions, please reach out to us at our office via a phone call or email.
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