Cancellations and rescheduling

We hold appointments on a first-come basis and our diary fills up a week or more ahead. When you cancel late we usually can’t offer the slot to someone else — the policy below is the fairest way we’ve found to keep the diary open while protecting the clinic from no-shows. If anything below doesn’t sit right with your situation, get in touch— we’re reasonable people and most things can be sorted.

The short version

• More than 24 hours’ notice: reschedule or cancel at no cost.
• Inside 24 hours’ notice, or a no-show:where a £30 deposit was paid to hold the slot it is forfeited; there is nothing further to pay. Please still let us know as soon as you can — we’ll always try to find you another slot.
• No-show without contact: the booking is closed.
• Cancelled by us:if you’d prepaid, a full refund every time, and we prioritise rebooking you.

How to cancel or reschedule

Send us a message at hello@optimalhealth.co.uk with your booking reference (it’s in your confirmation email and looks like BK-260521-A4F2), or use the contact formand pick “About a booking”. If you have an account, you can cancel directly from your account up to 24 hours before the appointment.

Why we ask for 24 hours

A clinic appointment is one slot, one clinician and a set of consumables (the bloodwork kit, an IV set, a room). When a slot cancels with less than a day’s notice we rarely find someone to fill it. We don’t charge for late cancellations — we just ask for notice so the slot can go to someone else. Persistent no-shows are the only thing that changes that (see below).

Refunds for prepaid services

Where you’ve paid for a service in advance, the prepaid amount is refundable up to the appointment time. After the appointment time, services delivered are non-refundable; services not yet delivered are refundable in full. Refunds are processed within five working days, back to the original payment method.

The £30 booking deposit

For some appointments we ask for a £30 deposit at the time of booking to secure your slot. The deposit is non-refundable and is deducted from the balance you settle in clinic on the day. By paying the deposit you agree to this before payment is taken.

• If you attend:the £30 is deducted from the amount you pay in clinic.
• If you cancel or reschedule with more than 24 hours’ notice:we’ll move the deposit to your new appointment at no extra cost.
• If you cancel inside 24 hours, or don’t attend: the deposit is forfeited — it covers the held slot and clinician time we couldn’t re-fill.
• If we cancel,or we agree the late cancellation was for illness, bad weather or another genuine reason (see below), the deposit is refunded in full or carried to your next booking — your choice.

Refunds of a deposit, where due, are processed within five working days back to the original payment method. Nothing in this deposit policy affects your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Bloodwork already sent to the lab

Once a sample is at the lab we’re committed to the lab fee. If you cancel a panel after the sample has been drawn, that panel is non-refundable. Before the sample is drawn there is nothing to pay.

If we cancel

We may need to cancel a booking for staff illness, equipment problems or other operational reasons. When that happens we’ll let you know as early as we can, refund any payment in full, and offer to rebook you with priority on the next available slot. If we can’t rebook within a reasonable window, the refund is the end of it — no obligation on your side.

Repeat no-shows

Two or more no-shows without contact in a twelve-month period and we’ll ask for full payment up front for future bookings. We don’t enjoy doing this and it’s rare. It exists because every empty slot is a slot a regular client could have used.

Bad weather, illness, urgent stuff

If you’re ill, snowed in, or dealing with something urgent, please just tell us. We’ll waive the late-cancellation rule. Honest communication beats policy every time — we haven’t met a sensible reason yet that we wouldn’t accept.

Concerns about a cancellation decision

If you think we’ve handled a cancellation unfairly, contact us within fourteen days and we’ll review it. We aim to acknowledge complaints within one working day and resolve them within ten. If you remain unhappy, this is a wellness service and not a regulated medical contract — your usual consumer rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 apply.

Questions? Drop us a message— cancellation enquiries are routed to the team and answered the same working day.