NCIFM Health Terms & Conditions
We use a patient software system called Practice Better which enables us to work closely with patient’s on their health goals and provides a patient portal where with access to schedule appointments, complete forms, upload test results and correspondence, view treatment plans with attachments, and make payments with ease. Repeat BHRT prescriptions can be made and online courses and downloadable resources accessed. We encourage all our patients and clients to download the phone app which means you can access this portal from your mobile phone.
Please find some information about Clinic Appointments below:
We offer appointments either via video link/ phone or in person and all the information about an appointment will be sent via the Practice Better portal. We find that most patients benefit from speaking to the practitioner on their own, however, in some instances patients may wish to be accompanied by a friend or relative. Children under the age of 14 are unable to attend their appointments alone.
Please do note that clinic appointments also includes the preparation time of the practitioner in reviewing intake forms and medical records; and creating a follow up plan with recommendations for supplements, testing and herbal medicines.
Phone Call/ Email Questions
We are here to support you, however to ensure we are able to reply to all the enquiries we receive and deliver the best service we can, email/phone enquiries are limited to a maximum of 2 between appointments to clarify or ask brief questions. Please allow up to 7 working days for a response. For lengthy or additional enquires you can book a short email consultation or 15 mins phone chat which will incur a fee, or we may advise a follow up consultation is booked. For any new symptoms or concerns we ask that you book in a follow up consultation with your practitioner to discuss this in full.
You can contact your nutritional practitioner through your Practice Better portal. To contact our doctor team please use the enquiries@ncifm.co.uk email and the enquiry will be passed on by our reception team.
Paying for your appointments, cancellations and missed appointments
For initial Hormone Clinic, Functional Medicine and Wellbeing appointments - you can choose to either pay in full for your initial appointment or place a 50% deposit to hold your appointment. This payment can be done through the Practice Better portal.
If the second option is chosen, to place a 50% deposit, the balance of the appointment fee will be taken automatically from the card stored securely on the portal 2 weeks before the appointment and an email receipt of this payment will be sent out.
Cancelling an initial consultation:
A full refund will be given if the cancellation is received at least 5 working days before the appointment. If the cancellation is within 5 days of the appointment there will be a 50% refund.
For initial Nutrition and Blood Draw appointments - full payment is taken at the booking confirmation in order to hold this appointment time and date. This can be done through the Practice Better portal.
Cancelling an initial consultation:
A full refund will be given if the cancellation is received at least 5 working days before the appointment. If the cancellation is within 5 days of the appointment a 50% refund will be made.
All follow up appointments
Full payment is taken at the booking confirmation in order to hold the appointment time and date. This can be done through the Practice Better portal.
To cancel or change an appointment please do this at least 5 working days before the appointment. If you do cancel or change your appointment after this 5 day window we reserve the right to retain 50% of the appointment fee.
Our clinic is busy and appointments are in demand, and we therefore do reserve the right to charge you in full for an appointment if it is missed without any notice given.
Appointments can be cancelled or rescheduled via the Practice Better portal.
Our reception office opening hours are:
Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Supplements, Herbal Medicines and Homeopathic Remedies
Following a clinical consultation, supplements or herbal medicines may be advised by your practitioner. There is a herbal and homeopathic dispensary at the centre and our dispensary also stocks a wide selection of supplements.
Your practitioner will advise you of how to order and use all supplements, herbal prescriptions and remedies that they recommend for you.
Sometimes more unusual herbs or remedies will need to be ordered in and this may cause there to be a few days delay in the medicines being ready. The cost of herbal medicines is variable depending on your individual needs and the length of time required and this cost is not included in your appointment cost.
Our dispensary team will be in touch with you to send details of all herbal medicines and homeopathic remedies including costs. Please indicate what you will require and an invoice will be created for you to pay online or by calling reception. Once payment has been made your order will be processed, it can take up to a week to be dispensed and may be collected from the centre or posted.
For repeat prescriptions these can be emailed to dispensary@orchardbarn.co.uk, sent via your patient portal or by calling the centre on 01472 884834 and selecting option 1. Please allow 7 working days for these to be prepared and again these can be collected from the centre or posted out, please specify when you order them what you would prefer.
Complaint Procedure
At NCIFM we are committed to providing a high-quality professional service to everyone we deal with. In order to do this we are constantly reviewing and improving our policies and procedures, and if we do get things wrong we want to help you resolve your complaint as quickly as possible.
For our full guide on our complaints procedure please visit our website: https://www.ncifm-uk.com/complaints-procedure
GDPR Consent Form
As part of your healthcare your practitioner may want to share your sensitive information with third parties to support your care. This is always shared by secure and confidential communication and only for the benefit of your ongoing care. By signing our Terms and Conditions you are agreeing to this. If we do not receive this consent from you, we will not be able to coordinate your healthcare with that provided by other providers which means the healthcare provided by us may be less effective.
We may also need to share your contact information with biochemical testing companies to order tests as part of your healthcare, some of which may be from outside of the European Union. This is done by secure and confidential communication, By signing our Terms and Conditions you are agreeing to this. If we do not receive this consent from you, we will review alternative tests from providers based within the European Union.
Marketing and information
Your practitioner would like to contact you occasionally by email with promotional offers, information on upcoming events and activities, and newsletters.
You can withdraw your consent to the above communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the emails.
Consent for Nutrition and Herb Supplement
Technically, vitamins, minerals, trace elements, amino acids, herbs, or homeopathic remedies are not classified as drugs. However, these substances can have significant effects on physiology and must be used rationally. In this clinic, we provide nutritional counselling and make individualised recommendations regarding use of these substances in order to upgrade the quality of foods in a patient’s diet and to supply nutrition to support the physiological and biomechanical processes of the human body. Although these products may also be suggested with a specific therapeutic purpose in mind, their use is chiefly designed to support given aspects of metabolic function. Use of nutritional supplements may be safely recommended for patients already using pharmaceutical medications (drugs), but some potentially harmful interactions may occur. For this reason, it is important to keep all of your healthcare providers fully informed about all medications and nutritional supplements, herbs, or hormones you may be taking.
Sale of Nutritional Supplements at NCIFM
You are under no obligation to purchase nutritional supplements at our clinic. As a service to you, we make nutritional supplements available in our centre. We purchase these products only from manufacturers who have gained our confidence through considerable research and experience. We determine quality by considering: (1) the quality of science behind the product; (2) the quality of the ingredients themselves; (3) the quality of the manufacturing process; and (4) the synergism among product components. The brands of supplements that we carry in our clinic are those that meet our high standards and tend to produce predictable results. While these supplements may come at a higher financial cost than those found on the shelves of pharmacies or health food stores, the cost also include assurance of their purity, quality, bioavailability (ability to be properly absorbed and utilized by the body), and effectiveness. The chief reason we make these products available is to ensure quality. You are not guaranteed the same level of quality when you purchase your supplements from the general marketplace. We are not suggesting that such products have no value; however, given the lack of stringent testing requirements for dietary supplements, product quality varies widely. If you have concerns about this issue, please discuss them with your practitioner.