Why do we have a cancellation policy?

We strive to provide a professional service to you. In order to do so effectively and efficiently, we have developed an appointment system that sets asides ample time for a client.

Our Psychologist’s can only see a limited number of clients per day. When an appointment is scheduled for you, that time has been set aside for you and when it is missed, that time cannot be used to see other clients who need our professional help. In an effort to reduce the number of such occurrences, we have implemented a Cancellation, Non-Attendance and Late Arrival Policy.

A late cancelled appointment is a loss to three people:

• The client who is delaying their therapy progress
• Another client who has been sitting on the waiting list to see the psychologist urgently
• The psychologist who spent time preparing for the session

How to cancel or reschedule an appointment

To avoid a cancellation fee ensure you contact at least two full business days prior to your appointment.

You can contact us by phone on 4972 6929 at any time, even after hours, as you can leave a message on our answering machine. Alternatively, you can email us at admin@cqpsychservices.com.au, reply to your SMS reminder text, send a message through our web site, or even pop into the office. There are multiple options for you to notify us and the responsibility rests on you to ensure you contact is made.

When scheduling an appointment with CQ Psych Services, please take the time to note this in your diary, calendar, smart phone, set a reminder alarm or whatever works for you so that you don’t forget important appointments. While we endeavour to send an SMS appointment reminder to you 48 hours prior to your appointment, it is your responsibility to keep track of any appointments you have made. SMS reminder should not be relied upon as issues may arise that prevent their transmission.

When does the cancellation fee apply?

Where adequate notice is provided, no fee will be charged.

Where inadequate notice is provided, a fee equal to 100% of the scheduled session fee will be charged where CQ Psych Services is unable to backfill the appointment. An appointment no show, will be charged at 100% of the scheduled session fee.

Adequate Notice: Appointment re-scheduling with more than two (2) full business days’ notice.

Inadequate Notice: Appointment re-scheduling with less than two (2) full business days’ notice.

No Show: Non-attendance for a scheduled service without notice.

Business Day: Monday to Friday 9:00am – 5:00pm (excluding Public Holidays).

These fess will be charged as follows:

Private, MHCP, WorkCover, NDIS (Self Managed) fees will be charged to your supplied credit card.

NDIS (Plan Managed) fees will be sent to your Plan Manager, however, if payment is rejected, you become responsible for these fees and they will be charged to your supplied credit card.

You are responsible for providing adequate notice if needing to reschedule an appointment. Reported unsuccessful attempts to contact us are insufficient, for example, if you phone us and are unable to connect or leave a message, you must make contact via an alternate means. It is your responsibility to contact us via phone, reply SMS, email or through our website.

We understand that on occasion you may feel unwell and we appreciate you not wanting to share with our team. For this reason, we simply transition clients to either phone or video sessions in these instances. This way you avoid a possible late cancellation fee.

Phone and Video sessions should be treated as regular in office sessions. If you are late connecting for the session, are unable to talk at our scheduled time, your battery has died and you are unable to access another confidential place to talk, or any other variable that would have you not be able to attend our session, please know that you will be charged for the session. Please make the necessary arrangements you need to be available and present for your scheduled session.

Non-attendance and Late Cancellation fees are not Medicare rebatable.

Future Appointments:

All outstanding fees must be paid prior to further appointments being scheduled.

Late arrivals:

If you are late for an appointment, you will be seen as soon as possible, though your session duration may be shortened in length.

CQ Psych Services reserves the right to reschedule appointments at any time, without compensation, if it is deemed necessary due to staff illness or other unforeseen circumstance. This does include changing an existing face-to-face appointment to a phone or video session.