Your First Appointment – Paul Teale Osteopath

Information about your first appointment with Mr Teale

Mask wearing is now optional. You will need to bring your own pillow and a blanket or sheet to cover the plinth. The latter will be sanitised between patients.
Please bring with you a note of any medications (or the medications themselves) either prescribed or over the counter, including any vitamins, minerals and homoeopathic or herbal remedies you are using. It will aid in assessing your condition and in reaching a more accurate diagnosis.
On the first visit I will take a detailed case history including a full medical history. Then, depending on the location of the problem I will usually want to make a full examination of the spine or the region where there is pain. This may involve undressing to your underwear. A gown can be provided if you wish. You are welcome to bring a friend or relative with you into the treatment room if it makes you feel more comfortable. Please note that the case history taking and examination will take up most of the time on the first visit.
At the end of the first consultation/examination a detailed explanation of the diagnosis and proposed treatment will be given to you. Please do not hesitate to ask any questions on anything that you do not understand about the proposed treatment.
The current fees are £45 for your first visit and £40 for subsequent visits, which will normally last for approximately 30 minutes. However, please note that these appointment lengths may vary as some conditions need extra time and some require less time. The important point to remember is that your osteopath aims to achieve the maximum benefit for your condition during each treatment session and the fee reflects your osteopath’s experience and decisions on each occasion.
If you have medical insurance, you are expected to settle the bill for each visit yourself and you will be given a receipt so that you can reclaim the fee from your insurance company. Payment can be by cash, cheque or bank transfer. We do not use a card machine.
If for any reason you decide not to take up this appointment, please call as soon as possible to cancel as we can then give it to another patient. If you cancel with less than 24 hours’ notice, then the clinic’s policy is to charge £20.

Late Cancellation/ Failed Attendance Policy

If you need to cancel an appointment, please call us on 01424 428754 and talk to us or leave a message. This frees your appointment space immediately. Please do not cancel by email or text message, as this does not free the space instantly.
Cancellation of an appointment with less than 24 hours notice, usually means we are unable to re-allocate the time to another patient. This leads to lost treatment time and longer delays for appointments.
In the first instance of a late cancellation or failure to attend, we will give you the opportunity to rebook the appointment. You will be reminded that we need 24 hours for any further cancellations.
In the second instance of a late cancellation or failure to attend, you will be asked to pay a cancellation fee of £20. Two or more missed appointments within a 12 month period, or failure to pay a cancellation fee may result in us asking you to register with another practice.
We appreciate your understanding of our late cancellation policy in helping to run an efficient appointment system. We will always take exceptional circumstances into account, if the unforeseen happens, and on the rare occasion you have to cancel at short notice.