Unfortunately, late-notice cancelations do happen. We know that family emergencies, illness and inconvenient times can require a late-notice cancelation. At Peninsula Community Physiotherapy, we have a 48 hour cancelation policy as this is what is required for appropriate employment law regulations regarding cancelled shifts for staff. The following applies:
-Cancelations must be made 48 hours before the time that is booked. If less than this notice is given (regardless of the reason) we will charge the full fee unless we can replace your appointment with another.
-If a Kilometres charge is on your usual bill, it will be removed for late cancelation.
-If you cancel after your therapist has arrived or whilst they are travelling to you, Kilometres and Travel will both be charged.
NDIS registration requires us to have legally employed staff, which is why NDIS policy allows for up to 7 days cancelation policy in line with the SCHADs employment award. We recognise that most last minute cancelations are not the participants fault, and only charge for these when we are not able to replace an appointment time.
FAQ
Q: Why was I charged the fee once before, but not this time?
A: If we are able to fill your appointment with another client, we will not charge a fee.
Q: Why do I have to pay a cancelation fee?
A: As noted above, we have legally employed staff to meet our NDIS requirements, which means that we must honour employment law regarding giving staff notice of a canceled shift. The staff member’s shift must be paid regardless of the reason for cancelation. We do not enforce the maximum allowable NDIS shift policy (7 days) as 48 hours is sufficient for a therapist.
Q: Sometime my cancelation fee includes travel. Not always. Why?
A: The travel allocated for an appointment is part of the scheduled appointment time. This is time a staff member was not able to give space for another appointment. Generally, cancelations won’t usually include travel unless we were unable to allocate that travel to another appointment.
Q: Are there instances where I will not be charged a cancelation fee?
A: When we are able to allocate your appointment time to another client, your cancelation fee will be waived. We try very hard to allocate appointments to other clients to avoid cancelation fees and to better manage our waitlists. Furthermore, there are sometimes circumstances where a therapist may be able to use your appointment time to complete non-face-to-face clinical work for you, such as preparing materials for you or writing letters or reports for you. We also endeavour, whenever feasible, to use canceled appointments for this purpose.