TERMS & CONDITIONS
Terms and conditions set out the expectations for the service user from the Therapist. They govern the contract in the unlikely event that a disagreement occurs. Please read our terms and conditions. Please contact Fennella Tapper on 07812390958 if you have any questions. These will need to be signed before the first appointment.
A) First Appointment (Assessment)
You will receive an email confirming the details of your child’s first appointment including date, time, location and fee.
At the end of the first appointment, your Therapist will explain whether your child requires further speech and language therapy support. This may be further assessment or therapy.
Your Therapist will let you know whether they have the correct skills and experience to meet their needs.
They will signpost you to other professionals if necessary.
B) Further Appointments
Your child must have attended an assessment appointment with one of our Therapists before commencing therapy. This enables our Therapists to plan appropriate therapy.
Therapy sessions can be arranged in your home and/or your child’s educational setting.
Therapy appointments will be agreed and booked in advance. We will agree the number of sessions at the point of booking.
We will review the need for further sessions at the end of each block of sessions.
Therapy sessions last 45 minutes unless agreed otherwise. This time may include direct work with your child, discussions of progress, demonstration/explanation of follow up activities with parents and/or education staff and writing up of notes.
No fee will be charged for time spent planning outside of the therapy sessions.
Parents are considered a vital part of therapy as they know their children best and can incorporate communication skill activities into their daily routines. Therefore, parents will be required to carry out some work at home as this will support the development of their children’s communication skills and promote generalisation skills.
Appointments in school require a member of the school staff present, ideally the person who will be carrying out the therapy sessions.
C) Fees
The fee for your first appointment will be invoiced on completion of the assessment.
Fees for therapy blocks must be paid in advance of each block of sessions commencing.
Additional reports, meetings or visits will be invoiced once completed.
Your Therapist will seek your agreement prior to undertaking any additional work that will incur further fees.
Please refer to “Family Services” on earlywordspeechtherapy.co.uk for list of fees.
D) Fee Changes
Fees are subject to annual increases from 1st April each year.
Existing clients will be given 2 weeks notice of any changes in fees
Fee increases will not apply to therapy blocks which have already started or sessions which have already been booked or invoiced.
E) Payment terms:
Invoices must be paid within 7 days of the invoice date.
Preferred method of payment is via bank transfer.
Cash or cheque payments are also accepted.
F) Non-Payment
The following process will apply in the event of non-payment:
Fennella Tapper will contact you to remind you that payment is overdue.
If an invoice is not paid within 7 days thereafter you will receive written notice that therapy is suspended pending payment in full.
If payment is not received in full within 7 days of therapy being suspended, your Therapist reserves the right to refer the matter to a solicitor and to commence legal action.
G) Health Insurance
If you are claiming fees through private health insurance, you will need to pay the fees in full in accordance with the payment terms above and then claim this back through your insurance.
It is recommended that you check with your insurance company prior to booking appointments to ensure that you are covered.
H) Travel
Petrol is charged at 55p per mile (return) from the Therapist’s base.
Travel times are calculated using Google Maps.
All journeys are calculated from your Therapists base.
I) Cancellations
If your Therapist needs to cancel an appointment they will let you know as soon as possible and reschedule the appointment. There may be certain situations (such as illness or family circumstances) which mean that you need to cancel an appointment at short notice.
If you do need to cancel an appointment please contact your Therapist as soon as possible.
The session will be refunded in full if you contact your Therapist before the day of the appointment.
If you cancel the appointment on the day of the appointment, a cancellation fee of £35 will be incurred.
J) Non-attendance
The full session will apply in the event of non-attendance. Non-attendance includes:
If you are not in when your Therapist comes to an appointment at your home
If your child is not at school or pre-school when your Therapist attends an arranged visit.
It is your responsibility to inform your Therapist if your child is not going to be at school or preschool for an appointment.
If you do not attend a teletherapy session.
K) Reports and Programmes
Reports and programmes will be supplied to you on request and will be completed within 14 days.
Unless expressly included in the session fee or otherwise agreed, an additional fee calculated by reference to hourly rates will be charged for writing reports and/or programmes.
Reports and/or programmes can be shared by you with other professionals as you choose.
Reports and/or programmes will be sent to you via post or by email as you prefer.
L) Resources
Unless otherwise agreed the cost of any resources provided to you are included in the sessions fees.
An electronic copy of resources for school or pre-school can also be provided at no extra charge.
Further copies can be provided at additional cost (price given on enquiry)
If you would like resources to be laminated this can be provided at a charge of 50p per laminate.
Laminating fees will be charged at the end of each therapy block.
M) Data Protection
All client details, case notes and correspondence will be stored securely and treated confidentially according to General Data Protection Regulations and the Data Protection Act 1988.
N) Safeguarding
For your peace of mind, our Therapists renew their DBS check annually. Service users may see my DBS enhanced disclosure at any time.
In the event of a safeguarding concern, where your child or another person is at risk of harm, we have a legal obligation to share that information with relevant professionals in line with the Safeguarding Children’s Act 2004.
O) Liaison with other professionals
To offer the best service to your child it is often important for us to liaise with other professionals involved in their care.
This includes people such as NHS Speech and Language Therapists, school/pre-school staff, your GP or other medical/educational staff.
P) Complaints
If you have cause for concern or a complaint, please discuss the matter initially with Fennella Tapper who will do her best to resolve the matter. If you are still unsatisfied you may contact The Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice at Coleheath Bottom, Speen, Princes Risborough, Bucks HP27 0SZ