Terms & Conditions
Terms and conditions set out the expectations for the service user and the therapist. They govern the contract between us and ensure that both parties are protected in the unlikely event that a disagreement occurs. Please read my terms and conditions and contact me if you have any questions.
Assessment (first appointment)
Further appointments
Fees
Payment terms
Health Insurance:
Travel
Cancellations
Non-attendance
Reports and Programmes:
Discharge Criteria
Data Protection:
Safeguarding
Liaison with other professionals
Working hours and availability:
Use of video and audio recording:
Electronic Communication
Terms and conditions set out the expectations for the service user and the therapist. They govern the contract between us and ensure that both parties are protected in the unlikely event that a disagreement occurs. Please read my terms and conditions and contact me if you have any questions.
Assessment (first appointment)
- You will receive written confirmation (usually by email) of the appointment date, time, and location.
- The fee for the initial assessment will be agreed before the start of the appointment.
- At the end of the first appointment, the therapist will make recommendations for future action and advise whether they believe your child would benefit from speech and language intervention
- If your child requires any further intervention (e.g. assessment, therapy block, referral to another agency), this will be discussed and agreed with you before any action is taken.
- If the therapist does not have the relevant qualifications to meet your child’s needs, you will be signposted to another professional / therapist / organisation if necessary.
Further appointments
- All children must attend an initial assessment session before they can start therapy. This is to ensure that they are provided the most appropriate therapy for their needs.
- Therapy sessions can be arranged in your home, school, or a therapy space as appropriate.
- Therapy appointments will be agreed and booked in advance.
- The number and length of therapy sessions will be agreed at the point of booking
- At the end of a therapy block, we will review the success of the therapy and agree further action (e.g. further intervention, discharge, etc.)
- Therapy sessions may include direct work with your child, discussion of progress, demonstration / explanation of follow up activities with carers / teaching staff, and writing up notes.
- No fee will be charged for time spent planning therapy sessions
- During therapy, the parent / carer will be provided with tasks and activities to carry out with the child in between therapy sessions
- Completion of these tasks is just as important as the therapy sessions and regular home support usually results in more positive outcomes
- It is important that you commit to attend all agreed therapy sessions
Fees
- You will be invoiced after your initial assessment session. Once this payment has been received, the therapist will book in your therapy (if required)
- You will then be invoiced per block of therapy. We reserve the right to ask you for payment before the start of a therapy block.
- Please refer to our ‘ Services & Fees’ section for current fees
- Existing clients will be given 4 weeks notice of any changes in fees. Fee increases will not apply to therapy blocks that have already started or sessions, which are already booked.
Payment terms
- Invoices must be paid within 30 days of the invoice date.
- We reserve the right to ask for payment before completion of any therapy or assessment
- In the event of non-payment, the following procedure will apply:
- You will be contacted and reminded that your payment is overdue
- If payment is not received within 7 days of this reminder, you will receive a written notice that therapy is suspended pending payment in full
- If payment is not received within 7 days of suspension of therapy, we reserve the right to commence legal action
Health Insurance:
- If you are claiming fees through private health insurance, it is your responsibility to pay these in full and seek reimbursement
- It is recommended that you check with your insurance company that you are fully covered for this service prior to booking.
Travel
- Travel is charged as a proportion of time spent travelling and as mileage and parking, or public transport cost.
- Please see Services and Fees for costs
- Travel times and mileage is calculated using Google Maps
- All journeys are calculated from our base at SE20 8AU
Cancellations
- If you do need to cancel an appointment, please contact us as soon as possible
- If a minimum of 24 hours notice is given, the appointment will not be charged
- The appointment will be charged at 50% of the session fee for appointments that are cancelled before 9am on the day of the appointment
- If an appointment is cancelled after 9am on the day of the appointment, the full appointment fee will be charged.
- If we need to cancel an appointment, we will let you know as soon as possible and will reschedule the appointment with you
- If we are unable to reschedule the appointment, then no fee will be charged
Non-attendance
- In the event of non-attendance or any even that prevents me from seeing your child the full fee will be charged
- This applies to home appointments, school visits, and clinic appointments
- It is your responsibility to inform us if your child is not going to be in school on the date and time of the agreed appointment
Reports and Programmes:
- Reports and programmes will be supplied to you on request.
- 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 with other professionals with your written consent
- Reports and/or programmes will be sent to you via post or by email, depending on your preference
Discharge Criteria
- Parents are free to withdraw from treatment at any time
- The therapist may also withdraw treatment or discharge the child for any of the following reasons
- • The child’s speech and language skills are within the normal range for their age
- • The child is no longer making progress (this is normally looked as no progress for 3+months despite input)
- • All appropriate strategies are in place and advice has been given
- • Therapy/intervention is not deemed appropriate by the therapist
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.
- All information, reports, and programmes are stored electronically and are password protected
- Any paper based confidential information is stored securely in accordance with General Data Protection Regulations and the Data Protection Act 1988.
- In accordance with law, all records will be kept securely until your child is:
- • 25 years old
- • 26 years old, if they were 17 years old at date of discharge
- • 8 years after discharge for all young people over the age of 18 at date of discharge
- After this time all records relating to your child will be destroyed.
- You may apply in writing to access an electronic copy of your child’s notes or to request modifications of any inaccuracies. These requests will be dealt with within 30 days.
Safeguarding
- In the event of a safeguarding concern, where your child or another person is at risk of harm, the therapist has a legal obligation to share that information with relevant professionals in line with the Safeguarding Children's Act 2004
Liaison with other professionals
- It is important that we liaise with other professionals to ensure that your child receives the best care
- This may include: GP and other medical staff, educational staff, social workers, NHS Speech and Language Therapists, and your child’s local educational authority
- You will be asked for consent for us to contact professionals involved in your child’s care
Working hours and availability:
- Our working hours are Monday to Friday between the hours of 9am and 5pm
- Weekend appointments are available and are subject to a 15% surcharge
- We can be contacted by email or phone and aim to respond within 2 working days.
Use of video and audio recording:
- Some assessment and therapy techniques involve the use of video or audio recording
- The videos/audio recordings are temporarily stored and will be deleted once viewed
- A copy of any recordings can be sent to you on request. Electronic communication
Electronic Communication
- Email is not a 100% secure method of communication. With your consent, it will be used for correspondence and to send letters, reports and other documents
- Documents will be password protected and saved in Printed Document Format (PDF)
- Correspondence via email to other professionals will be copied to you as necessary
- Your child will be referred to in emails by their initials only.