Policies and Procedures

All our policies and procedures can be easily viewed below, to provide transparency around our services

Cancellation & Rescheduling

At Pip Squeak Speech Pathology, we are committed to providing quality services on a consistent basis. As part of our commitment to delivering quality Speech Pathology services, we ask that appointments be attended on a regular basis. We understand however, that situations such as illness, holidays and other family matters occur which can impact attendance.

Our cancellation and rescheduling policy is written in a way which prioritises rescheduling sessions, to ensure consistent therapy attendance. By offering flexible reschedules, we also hope that clients are able to confidently reschedule sessions when unwell. When children are unwell, they are unable to receive the full benefits of their therapy session. Additionally, when staff are exposed to illness they may have to cancel subsequent appointments for other children which will impact their therapy progress.

Reschedules

If you contact Pip Squeak Speech Pathology via email or text before Pip Squeak Speech Pathology has commenced travel to the scheduled appointment, you are able to reschedule this appointment to a mutually agreeable time within 4 weeks of the original session. Before leaving for scheduled therapy appointments, Pip Squeak Speech Pathology will check emails and texts to ensure the appointment is going ahead.

Please contact Pip Squeak Speech Pathology via email or text rather than phone call in these instances.

If the appointment is unable to be rescheduled to a mutually agreeable time within a 4 week period, an alternative service will be negotiated (such as resource making, report writing, therapy reviews, phone calls with teachers etc). If these are not agreed to, Pip Squeak Speech Pathology reserves the right to charge a late cancellation fee of 100% of the session rate.

Cancellations

You are able to cancel your scheduled session, with no cancellation fee, when you provide Pip Squeak Speech Pathology with at least 24 hours written notice. If you need to cancel your session, please let Pip Squeak Speech Pathology know in writing, via email or text.

We do ask that you provide Pip Squeak Speech Pathology with as much notice as possible for cancellations however, as it allows Pip Squeak Speech Pathology to offer this spot to another child.

Your appointment time is exclusively held for your child and regular cancellations will impact your child’s progress as well as the therapist’s income. For these reasons, if therapy sessions are regularly cancelled or rescheduled, your therapist will discuss with you if the current service delivery model still suits you. Pip Squeak Speech Pathology may cease services if excessive cancellations or reschedules continue, by providing you with 2 weeks notice of service discontinuation.

No shows

Pip Squeak Speech Pathology will charge a late cancellation fee of 100% of the session rate, including travel time, for no show sessions. No show sessions include when a child is not at home or in class for the scheduled session. Pip Squeak Speech Pathology will wait for 15 minutes while trying to contact next of kin/guardians or classroom teachers in these instances, but reserves the right to leave after 15 minutes.

In instances of school based or daycare based therapy, it is the parent’s responsibility to let Pip Squeak Speech Pathology know if their child will not be able to attend their usual appointment due to scheduled events such as athletics carnivals, school photos, excursions, assemblies etc. If Pip Squeak Speech Pathology is not informed of this by the parent and is unable to complete the therapy session, a no show fee will be applied.

Privacy

Pip Squeak Speech Pathology acknowledges and respects the privacy of individuals. The policy documents the way in which we use, manage and protect your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988.

Collection of information

We may collect personal information from you including your name, address, telephone number and email address, when you knowingly provide us with information such as when you visit our website and register your needs or when you enquire about our services.

Use of your information

Personal information that you submit to us may be used by us for reasonable business purposes, in that we may store (database) and process that information to better understand your needs and how we can improve our services. Your personal information may also be used for the following purposes:

Pip Squeak Speech Pathology, to make contact for the purpose of providing services
Purposes related to promotion, marketing and operations
Statistical purposes

For any of the above purposes we may contact you by electronic or other means.

Disclosure to third parties

Personal information that you submit to us will only be disclosed to a third party, if we are required or authorised by law to disclose the information. Otherwise we will not disclose your personal information to any third parties.

Access, accuracy and security

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we collect is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

You can access and request correction of any personal information concerning you at any time. You may also request that we delete your personal information at any time. Any such requests should be made directly by contacting us at the details set out below.

We will take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Sensitive information

We will not collect, use or disclose sensitive information (such as information about racial or ethnic origins or political or religious beliefs) except with your specific consent or in the circumstances permitted in the Privacy Act 1988.

Privacy and our website

Clickstream Data

Each time you visit the Website, our server collects some anonymous information, known as click-stream data, including the type of browser and system you are using; the address of the Website you have come from and move to after your visit; the date and time of your visit; and your server's IP address. We may collect this information for statistical purposes to find out how the Website is used and navigated, including the number of hits, the frequency and duration of visits, most popular session times etc. We may use this information to evaluate and improve the Website’s performance.

A Cookie is a piece of information that our web server may send to your machine when you visit the Website. The Cookie is stored on your machine, but does not identify you or give us any information about your computer. A Cookie helps us to recognise you when you revisit the Website and to coordinate your access to different pages on the Website. With most Internet Browsers, you can erase Cookies from your computer hard drive, block all Cookies, or receive a warning before a Cookie is stored. If you want to do this, refer to your Browser instructions or help screen to learn more.

Payments

Pip Squeak Speech Pathology will send an invoice for services within 24 hours of your appointment. Pip Squeak Speech Pathology requires payment to be made for services within 7 days of the invoice being sent out.

Invoices for non face to face supports, such as reports and resources, will be sent once the resource has been completed by Pip Squeak Speech Pathology. Payment for the invoice needs to be received before non face to face resources are released to the client. A preview may be sent prior if requested by the client.

Clients who use NDIS funding for therapy are responsible for ensuring that they have adequate funds to cover services delivered. Any outstanding invoices in the absence of NDIS funds will be paid by the participant and/or their caregiver privately.

If there is an outstanding invoice, Pip Squeak Speech Pathology reserves the right to suspend services until outstanding invoices are paid.

If after a period of time the invoice is still outstanding, Pip Squeak Speech Pathology reserves the right to engage their preferred debt recovery agency to assist with recovering the outstanding amount. Please note that 20% will be added to the invoice total by the debt recovery agency to cover their costs.

If you are experiencing financial hardship and are unable to pay your invoice, please contact Pip Squeak Speech Pathology to discuss alternative payment options.

Complaints Management

Purpose and Objectives

The objective of this document is to ensure complaints and grievances are resolved between parties through procedural fairness and discussions in a respectful and confidential manner. Pip Squeak Speech Pathology is committed to maintaining a good working relationship with its clients. It is recognised though that from time to time a client may have a grievance which needs to be resolved in the interests of maintaining good relationships. The procedures described in this document are designed to assist parties involved with a complaint or grievance in maintaining good working relationships and also in resolving any conflicts or issues which arise that have a negative impact on client or working relationships.

Objectivity

Each complaint will be addressed in an equitable, objective and unbiased manner through the complaints handling process. The principles of objectivity include:

Openness; to ensure both the complainant and respondent understand the complaints handling process
Impartiality; to ensure a balanced consideration of all information/evidence is undertaken before a complaint can be resolved without fear or favour, with procedural fairness applying
Confidentiality; to ensure the complainants and other parties are protected
Accessibility; to ensure all parties concerned are aware of the complaints handling process and the lodged complaints progress
Completeness; to ensure all available information/evidence has been collected from both sides
Equity: to ensure equal treatment to all people
Sensitivity; to ensure each case is considered on its merits, paying due care to individual differences and needs

Pip Squeak Speech Pathology understands that a complaint may be made in person, by phone, email or in writing. Pip Squeak Speech Pathology will document the details of the complaint so that there is a complete understanding of the issues, and also an understanding of what the complainant would like to see as a resolution. Pip Squeak Speech Pathology will endeavour to resolve complaints, if possible, within five (5) business

days.

Complaint Application, Steps and Process

In the first instance, the person making the complaint is encouraged to seek resolution of the grievance informally between the immediate parties concerned. A simple apology may finalise the matter at that point. This can occur face to face, phone call or email, depending on complainant preference
If the complainant is unhappy with the outcome from above or Pip Squeak Speech Pathology deems it necessary, Pip Squeak Speech’s director may refer the matter for professional external mediation, and if still unresolved, the matter may be referred to Speech Pathology Australia, the NDIS Commission and/or Australian Commercial Disputes Centre (ACDC) and/or Fair Work Commission for resolution.
If a complainant is not satisfied with the outcome of step one (1), or is not comfortable completing step one (1), complainants are encouraged to independently contact Speech Pathology Australia, the NDIS commission and/or Australian Commercial Disputes Centre
Steps 1 - 3 should, wherever possible, occur within seven (7) working days.

Note

All parties must cooperate to ensure that these procedures are carried out as quickly as reasonably possible.
Work will continue as normal whilst the complaint or grievance is being resolved through these procedures, unless he or she has a reasonable concern about an imminent risk to his or her health or safety.
Legitimate attempts to resolve the problem must be made at each level by all parties at Pip Squeak Speech Pathology and referrals to an external body should be regarded as a last resort.
Clients need to raise their concerns at the earliest possible time in order for the matter to be resolved quickly, and client service and treatment can proceed.
Overall, Pip Squeak Speech Pathology requires parties keep matters raised as being confidential.

Taken from: Speech Pathology Australia (2016). TEMPLATES Private Speech Pathology Practice

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