Cancellations

Cancellations happen... but they can also be a disruption to therapeutic progress!

When a client calls to cancel with more than 48 hours notice, we can often offer a replacement service to support ongoing therapeutic progress.

A client will generally call or text reception to alert us of a cancellation. Reception will then send a message to the relevant clinician to inform them of the cancellation.

At this point, it is up to the clinician to consider the following list of cancellation replacements and either 1) ask reception to text the client and offer the replacement, or text, email or call them themselves to offer the replacement. Below, you will find an example script you can use.

Please note, these services can also be offered in place of short-notice cancellations too if there is enough time to organise them. 

Examples of Replacement Services:

• Report due - do they have an upcoming EOP or assessment report you can write

• Assessment scoring - can you use the time to score an assessment they've recently completed?

• Visuals - are there any visuals or resources they need at home/school/kinder that you can make?

• Social story - is there a social story you can make to support one of their goals?

• Care Team Meetings - do we have time to organise a care team meeting for that client?

• Therapy Plan/Termly Plan - do we need to spend some time reviewing and/or updating their therapy plans?

• Goal reviews - similarly to above, do we need to spend some time reviewing their goals?

• Research - Has there been a recent development in the client's life that you need to research or a new therapeutic approach?

• Liaising with school/therapists - can you schedule this time to call/email with the clients teachers/therapists (this can be done back-and-forth over a few days and then billed accordingly in the time that would have been their session.

• School/kinder support letters - does the client need a letter of support written for their teacher/kinder or possibly for an NDIS consumable?

• Toileting plans - does your client have a toileting goal that needs to be made into a toileting plan?

• Home programs - we know home programs support goal achievement - does your client have one that is up-to-date?

• Parent only - depending on the cancellation reason, could we organise a parent-only session to update goals, educate or provide parent support?

Example Script:

Hi [Name], thanks for letting us know about the cancellation for [Client’s Name]. I/[Clinician Name] can offer a replacement service (like a home activity pack, parent consult, or goal planning session) instead to keep progressing towards [Client Name]'s goals in the meantime. If this doesn't suit, please let us know 😊 – Joyful Journey OT 

Hi Cherie, thanks for letting us know about the cancellation for Blake. Mez can offer a replacement service to complete his NDIS report in that time instead. If this doesn't suit, please let us know  Joyful Journey OT