Appointment Policy

We have a very long wait list for new patient consultations. These appointments are 60 minutes long and will not be rebooked if you miss the appointment without adequate notice unless there are extenuating circumstances. It is your responsibility to remember your appointment date and time regardless of whether you receive a courtesy reminder call. Missed appointments lead to longer wait lists and deprive other patients of the opportunity to be seen and have their pain treated.

Courtesy phone reminders

We use an automated phone reminder system that will call the phone number you have provided. The system will try to call you up to 3 times and will leave a message if you have voice mail. The system calls 2 days prior to your appointment at 5pm & 7pm and the day immediately before your appointment at 10am. However, it is your responsibility to remember your appointment date and time regardless of whether you receive a reminder call.

Cancellation policy

We require a minimum of 1 business day (24 hours) notice for cancellations, please give us as much notice as possible so that we can fill the opening with another patient. Our waiting lists for consultations, office visits and procedures are very long and short notice cancellations mean some people will not be seen or receive treatment.  Multiple missed appointments without advance notice will result in discharge from the practice. You may be required to pay a cancellation fee equivalent to the cost of the missed appointment if you cancel with less than 24 hours notice or miss your appointment.

Inactive Patients

If you have not been to the clinic for more than 6 months you will need to phone or visit your family doctor for a re-referral prior to treatment. Don’t worry, you will not be placed back onto the waiting list and we will see you as soon as a mutually convenient appointment is available. The re-referral is necessary to ensure communication is maintained between physicians.

One appointment one problem

We generally only have time to treat one problem during each visit. If you have multiple problems to be addressed we will treat the problem outlined in your doctor’s referral letter or the problem that we agree is most pressing. The BC Medical Services Plan does not pay for multiple procedures at the same appointment in most cases. We do not book ‘extended’ appointments to address multiple issues.

New issues

Procedure (injection) appointments are generally booked long enough for the procedure only. If you have a new issue please make a separate appointment to discuss it. New issues require another referral from your family doctor so that we can set aside enough time to properly discuss the problem.

Reviewing lab or x-ray results

We generally only need a minute or two to review lab or x-ray results and do not need to book ‘extended’ appointments to review these before you have injections.

Clinic timing

We try to stay on time throughout the day but there are no guarantees. Please plan to arrive for your appointment a few minutes early to help keep us on time. Be aware that unforeseen issues or complications occasionally arise and we will take as much time as necessary to properly manage these issues regardless of the schedule. The medical office assistant (MOA) can reschedule your appointment if we are behind schedule and you cannot wait.