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VIP Membership Terms & Conditions

INTRODUCTION
Welcome to DOCTORnow and thank you for purchasing VIP Membership.

These Terms and Conditions are valid for Members joining or renewing on or after 1 November 2011. Please read this information carefully and keep it in a safe place as use of your Membership is subject to these Terms and Conditions.

Please note that whilst most of the Terms and Conditions apply to all Members, there are some variations depending on the type of membership you have. To work out which of the Terms and Conditions apply to your particular Membership, please make sure you are aware of the type of cover you hold, as detailed in the accompanying letter.

ABOUT US
Company Name: Doctor Now Limited
Registered in England No. 05160921 
VAT No. 916 8671 89
Registered Office: The Old Barn, Mulberry Court, Windsor End, Beaconsfield, Bucks, HP9 2JJ

CONTACT DETAILS
For all enquiries or to book an appointment –
Tel: 01494 410888
Email: info@doctornow.org
Internet: www.doctornow.org

VIP MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
This section details the services that are available under the different Membership options.

VIPi
This entitles you to free telephone consultations and prescriptions, and access to our out of hour’s telephone number which enables you to request Doctor’s advice when the surgery is closed , along with the ability to request home visits.  In-surgery consultations and home visits are chargeable at non-member rates, for reimbursement to you by your insurance company.

VIP12
This entitles you to free surgery and telephone consultations during our surgery hours, and free administrative services. You also benefit from a 10% discount on all medical examinations and most medical procedures.  Home visits during surgery hours can be requested, but are at the discretion of the Doctor and are chargeable at the rate of £242 per visit.  Out of hours in-surgery consultations are also at the discretion of the Doctor and are chargeable at the rate of £189.

VIP24
In addition to the VIP12 benefits outlined above, VIP24 membership enables you to call a Doctor at any time outside surgery hours, day or night, free of charge.  You can also request a Home Visit, which incurs an additional fee of £121, or an Out of Hours Surgery Consultation Fee for the additional charge of £95. 

VIP24+
In addition to the VIP24 benefits, Our VIP24+ option further includes a monthly nurse ‘check-up’ visit and up to 4 GP Home Visits free of charge.

VIP MEMBERSHIP CONTRACTS
VIP Membership is available on either an annual or continuous basis:

New/Rejoining Members
All new members who join and any members whose membership has lapsed and who then decide to rejoin will be subject to a joining fee. The following joining fees therefore now apply:
1st member of a household  £50
2nd member of a household  £40
3rd member of a household  £30
4th member of a household  £20
5th & subsequent members of a household  £10

Annual Membership: the contract is for 12 months, paid for in a lump sum upfront.   Membership renewal is advised to you at least 7 days before the contract expires, along with any changes to Terms and Conditions that will take effect at renewal.  If you don’t want to renew on this basis, you should notify DOCTORnow prior to your renewal date.  Payment must be made within 7 days of the renewal date.

Continuous Membership: cover is paid for monthly, by Direct Debit, on the 1st of each month (or the next working day).  The initial contract is for 12 months, but thereafter runs on a continuous basis until cancelled.  Please see further details on cancellation.

General Terms and Conditions

General exclusions
VIP Membership does not provide for:

  1. The costs associated with blood tests
  2. The costs associated with the purchase of any medicines prescribed
  3. The costs incurred by consultations/treatments with any specialists referred to
  4. The costs associated with certain medical procedures (see Price List for associated discounts)
  5. The cost of any vaccinations
  6. The cost of medical consumables
  7. The cost of home visits
  8. The cost of out of hours in-surgery consultations
  9. The cost of missed appointments
  10. Consultations for any non-members

Missed Appointments 
Our missed appointments policy applies to all members.  If you do not call us to cancel your appointment at least 4 hours before the appointment time, a missed appointment fee equivalent to 50% of the non member consultation fee will apply. If a home visit is cancelled without 4 hours’ notice given, 50% of the home visit rate will be applicable. 

DOCTORnow reserves the right to refuse to provide advice or consultations where:

  1. Membership fees have not been paid
  2. Outstanding charges have not been paid
  3. In its reasonable opinion, the giving of service would involve any breach of the law;
  4. It reasonably considers that you or anyone accompanying you, is behaving or has behaved in an  abusive or threatening manner to DOCTORnow employees or agents

Cancellation of Membership
You have the right to cancel your Membership within a 14 day 'cooling off period', commencing either from the agreement of the contract (which is the renewal date for renewing Annual Membership) or the receipt of the Membership documents, whichever happens later.  Cancellations must be confirmed in writing.

The following refund policy will apply for cancelling within the cooling off period:

  1. if you have already had a consultation, you will receive a full refund of the total Membership fee paid less the charges for the consultation.
  2. if you have not had a consultation, you will receive a full refund of the fee, less an administration charge of £30.

Please note that there will be no additional cooling off period(s) during the Membership Year, regardless of any changes that are made to the Membership.

If you wish to cancel after the cooling off period has expired the following will apply:

  1. For Members with Annual cover: subject to any other statutory you may have, there will be no refund of the Membership fee.  The only exception will be in the event of death, in which case DOCTORnow may refund your estate with an amount proportionate to any full months left.
  2. For those with Continuous Membership: you can cancel your cover at any time after the initial 12 months by giving a minimum of 30 days notice. Cancellation will take effect at the next payment date following the end of the notice period.

DOCTORnow has the right to cancel a Continuous Membership contract:

  1. immediately if any month's Continuous Membership fee or other related charge is overdue;
  2. at any time by giving at least 30 days notice: cancellation will take effect at the next payment date following the end of this notice period and no refund will be due.

Changes to Terms and Conditions
DOCTORnow is entitled to change any of the Terms and Conditions on the anniversary of your joining date. DOCTORnow also reserves the right to make changes to these Terms and Conditions during the Membership Year, on the giving of reasonable notice, where it reasonably considers this necessary in order to comply with any applicable laws, regulations or the instruction of a regulatory authority.

Changes to your Personal Details
Changes to your name, address, telephone number or Bank Account details must be notified to DOCTORnow immediately.

Matters outside DOCTORnow's reasonable control
While DOCTORnow seeks to meet the service needs of Members at all times, its resources are finite and this may not always be possible. DOCTORnow shall not be liable for service failures where DOCTORnow is faced with circumstances outside its reasonable control.

Exclusion of liability for loss of profit etc
DOCTORnow shall not, in any event, and to the extent permitted by law, have any responsibility for any increased costs or expenses, for any loss of profit, business, contracts, revenue or anticipated savings or for any special, indirect or consequential losses incurred as a result of or in connection with any service, whether resulting from tort (including negligence or breach of statutory duty), breach of agreement or otherwise. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this clause or these Terms and Conditions shall exclude or restrict DOCTORnow's liability for negligence resulting in death or personal injury.

Enforcement of Terms and Conditions
Failure to enforce or non-reliance on any of these Terms and Conditions by DOCTORnow will not prevent DOCTORnow from subsequently relying on or enforcing them.

None of the Terms and Conditions or benefits of Membership are enforceable by anyone else other than you.

Interpretation: use of English law
Your Membership and these Terms and Conditions are governed and should be interpreted by the laws of England and Wales.

Fair Usage Policy
In order to enable DOCTORnow to offer an efficient and rapidly accessible service to all Members, we need to ensure that excessively high usage by a minority of members is avoided.

Therefore, in a few exceptional circumstances, where usage by a member becomes excessively high, DOCTORnow reserves the right to discuss the level of usage with the member.  This may lead to additional fees being charged for subsequent consultations during the membership year and a higher membership fee being charged for subsequent membership years.  The new fee will be advised to you prior to renewal.

USE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
DOCTORnow is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office and complies with the regulations associated with the Data Protection Act.

DOCTORnow will use your personal information for the following purposes only:

  1. to identify you when you contact us;
  2. to help identify services and/or products which you could have from us or selected partners;
  3. to help administer, and contact you about improved administration of any services and products we have provided, provide now or in the future;
  4. to carry out marketing analysis and customer profiling, to conduct research, including creating statistical information;
  5. to help to prevent and detect fraud or loss;
  6. to contact you in any way (including mail, email, telephone, or text) about products and services offered by us and/or selected partners unless you have previously asked us not to do so;
  7. to keep you up to date with our Membership scheme, under which we will give you Membership information and details of discounts and offers negotiated on behalf of our Members.

We may allow other people and organisations to use information we hold about you if we have been legitimately asked to provide information for legal or regulatory purposes or as part of legal proceedings or prospective legal proceedings. We will, however, always use every reasonable effort to ensure sufficient protections are in place to safeguard your personal information.

We may monitor and record communications with you (including phone conversations and emails) for quality assurance and compliance reasons.

Where you give us information on behalf of someone else, you confirm that you have provided them with the information set out in these provisions and that they have not objected to such use of their personal information. Where you give us sensitive data about yourself or another person (such as health details) you agree (and confirm that the other person has agreed) to our processing such information in the manner set out in these provisions.

General rights to refuse service
Please note: if you are refused service by DOCTORnow you have the right to an explanation in writing (see 'Compliments and complaints' for contact details).

COMPLIMENTS & COMPLAINTS
If you have a compliment or complaint about your Membership we really want to hear from you. DOCTORnow welcomes your comments as they provide the opportunity to put things right and to improve service.  You should contact our Practice Manager, Lynne Smith:

Tel: 01494 410888
Email: lynne.smith@doctornow.org
Post: The Old Barn, Mulberry Court, Windsor End, Beaconsfield, Bucks, HP9 2JJ

It is DOCTORnow’s policy to acknowledge any complaint within 2 working days. We will advise you of who is dealing with your concerns and, where possible, provide a response within 5 working days. If you are still not satisfied after you have received a full response, or after 4 weeks have passed, you can contact the Care Quality Commission:

Tel: 03000 616161
Email: enquiries@cqc.org.uk
Post: Care Quality Commission, National Correspondence:
Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4PA