These Business Terms are the standard terms which apply to the services we provide to you (or your family) (known as the “services”), by Dr Nicola Cann Ltd. whose business address is 68 Circular Road, #-2-01 The Octagon, Singapore, 049422 (referred to as us/we/our).
Please read these Business Terms carefully and sign at the end to indicate your acknowledgement and acceptance. If you have any questions on any part of this document, please email hello@drnicolacann.com.
Dr Nicola Cann is registered with the Singapore Psychological Society, the United Kingdom’s Health and Care Professions Council, and the New Zealand Psychologists Board. All services offered by Dr Nicola Cann are delivered under the Singapore Psychological Society’s code of ethics and code of conduct, and the regulations in law as specified by the Health and Care Professions Council and the Psychologists Board.
Consultations are by appointment only. Details of the consultation timings, length and fees shall be made available to you in advance of the consultation.
Appointments for future consultations can be made either during your consultation or by email.
If you know you are going to be late for an appointment, you should contact us to tell us. If you arrive later than 15 minutes after an appointment time, we will try to provide the services you have booked but if we decide that we cannot, the appointment will be treated as cancelled without notice by you and, if we then decide to make a charge for that appointment cancelled without notice, you will be required to pay the full price of the appointment, less any advance payment already made by you.
Sessions will be provided online via a pre-agreed livestream service (for example Zoom, Teams, WhatsApp, Skype).
When using a third-party supplier for online sessions your personal and special category data will be treated in accordance with our Privacy Policy and with Singapore’s National Telehealth Guidance (2015).
We will use reasonable endeavours to start sessions at the scheduled start time. Where the start is delayed by circumstances beyond our control we will not be liable for any such delay.
In some limited circumstances, we may need to suspend the provision of an online session for one or more of the following reasons:
In the event of any of the circumstances listed above occurring, then we will use reasonable endeavours to give as much notice as possible to you.
We will not be liable to you for any costs or losses incurred by you as a result of using any third-party online provider for the purposes of attending a session virtually with us. You should make yourself familiar with such providers’ own terms and conditions and privacy policy.
Ahead of our on-line session, we ask you to plan where in your location you will sit for the meeting. It is important that the connection to the internet is as strong as possible.
It is important that you ensure the space is private and that you cannot be interrupted or overheard. You are strongly encouraged to make any necessary arrangements with anyone you may normally share the location with to ensure that your protected space can be achieved.
Wearing earphones attached to the mobile, laptop or tablet device is helpful in blocking out “feedback” noise and ensuring extra privacy.
To maintain our high-level professional accreditations, we are required to audio or video record some sessions to be discussed within clinical supervision. It is important to note that there is no expectation or requirement for you to agree to this, but please let us know if you would feel happy for your session to be recorded for this purpose.
We are occasionally asked by clients if they can record our session to listen again in their own time. In most circumstances this will be fine, but please note that you must gain our written consent in advance. Clients are not permitted to record sessions without receiving our written consent. This applies to any form of recording device including phones and live Skype/Facetime/Zoom etc video recording programmes.
Where sessions have been recorded, clients are not permitted to share, broadcast, distribute or make available online the recordings without our written consent. If you would like to share the recording with someone (e.g. a family member, partner) please discuss this with us.
You may cancel an appointment without charge if you give us at least 48 hours in working days prior notice of the cancellation. If you do so, we will refund you any sum you paid in advance. For example, cancellations for an appointment on a Tuesday must be communicated to us the prior Friday.
Any cancellations made with fewer than 24 hours notice will be charged at the full rate, and cancellations made between 24 and 48 hours notice will be charged at 50% of the full rate. This is the case no matter whether the appointment is for a face to face, online, or telephone session.
Please note, we will always try to arrange for another client to attend to avoid you having to pay the cancellation fee. However, it is usually not possible to book another patient in at such short notice.
Cancellations with fewer than 48 hours notice, or failures to attend are likely to be counted as one of your designated appointments, where funding is via a health insurance company, your employer or is provided as part of a legal process. You should check with your health insurance policy to ensure you know when they will and will not cover your costs.
We may cancel an appointment booked by you at any time before the time and date of that appointment in the following circumstances:
If we cancel an appointment in such circumstances, we will refund to you in full any advance payment that you have made to us for that appointment.
We will use all reasonable endeavours to start the appointment at the time you have booked but the start may be delayed by overrun of a previous appointment or by other circumstances. If a delay to the start is at least 30 minutes or at any time before or after you arrive for an appointment we notify you that there will be a delay of at least that time you may cancel the appointment and we will refund you in full any deposit or other advance payment that you have made to us for that appointment.
Where the contract we make with you is made over the telephone or via email/online booking, the law gives you the rights set out in this paragraph, and they will be in addition to the rights given to you by the above provisions of this section. You may for any reason cancel an appointment made in this way during the 14 day period after we accept the booking. However, if the appointment is on a date which is before the end of that 14 day period and if you have expressly requested us to provide services at that appointment and we do so, you may not cancel that appointment and you must pay for it in accordance with these Business Terms. If you request that your appointment be cancelled, you must confirm this in any way convenient to you. If you cancel as allowed by this paragraph, and you have already made any payment(s) to us for the appointment, we will refund the payment(s) to you within 14 days of receiving your cancellation.
If we are prevented from or delayed in performing our obligations by your act or omission or by any circumstance outside our control, we will not be liable to you for any costs, charges or losses sustained or incurred by you that arise directly or indirectly from such prevention or delay.
If sessions are held in person at a third party venue, you agree to comply at all times with that venue’s policies and rules about that venue (particularly fire safety and health and safety rules).
You must pay for all services in accordance with our current price list either before or upon completion of provision of those services.
Payment of our fees will either be due or invoiced either before or at the end of a consultation. We shall let you know when you make the appointment when the fee for that session will be due and payable.
We may alter our prices without prior notice but if the price of any services increases between the time when you book an appointment and the date of the appointment, the price increase will not apply to your appointment for those services on that date.
Chasing unpaid invoices attracts an administration and interest charge of 8% above the Bank of England base rate from the due date until the final settlement date. We may suspend the provision of our services to you in the event that any due fees remain unpaid.
For clients attending consultations through a direct arrangement with their employer or the employer’s representative, we normally invoice and collect payment from the employer or the representative unless otherwise agreed.
Invoices are sent monthly to the employer or representative. Payment for cancelled appointments or for any failure to attend without prior notice may be the client’s own responsibility. We advise clients to check with their employer or their representative what the arrangements for payment are in the event of missed or late-cancelled sessions.
Our commitment to confidentiality is not affected by who pays for the service provided by us.
The information discussed in our consultations and appointments with you are of a confidential nature. We provide a safe place in which you (or your child) can share your feelings and thoughts with us.
We will ensure that any confidential information you (and/or your child) disclose to us shall not be disclosed to any person except as permitted in this section.
We may disclose confidential information relating to you (and/or your child): (i) to our employees, advisers, other healthcare professionals or social agencies who need to know such information for the purposes of carrying out our services to you; (ii) as may be required by law, a court of competent jurisdiction or any governmental or regulatory authority; and (iii) if we believe that you are at risk of harming yourself or others, in which case we are entitled to report this to the relevant organisation. Where possible any breach of confidentiality related to risk of harm will be discussed with you (and/or your child) first.
We shall not use your confidential information for any purpose other than to perform our obligations under these Business Terms.
We shall ensure that any person to whom we disclose your confidential information to in this section also comply with these confidentiality obligations.
It is a requirement for all psychologists to have regular supervision sessions in which they discuss their work in a safe confidential space with an equally or more experienced colleague. All work that is discussed in these sessions is completely anonymised. Supervisors are bound by the same professional and ethical regulations as our practitioners and do not discuss clinical material outside of the supervisory context.
If a medical or legal professional or social worker requested information from us, we would not release this without your consent unless there was a legal obligation to do so.
Brief notes are made during each session in order to recall information and support our work together. Notes are kept securely, according to the Singapore Personal Data Protection Act (2012) and the UK Data Protection Act (2018).
Notes are kept as electronic password-protected documents on a password-protected computer.
We will not keep paper copies of any documents.
We will store children’s notes for seven years after their 18th birthday in keeping with national guidelines, after which time they will be destroyed.
We retain ownership of the notes but we are happy to discuss their contents with you and you also have a right to access them formally. Should you wish to do this, please contact us in accordance with the Your Rights section of our Privacy Policy.
It is also possible for the courts to access these documents should they need to in relation to a matter of public interest. In this unlikely event, you would be informed of this before the notes were released.
If we need to send emails that contain detailed information about your child’s care (for example to yourself or to your GP), we will attach the information as a password protected word document, with the password sent separately. We would encourage you to do the same if you need to email us detailed information.
We will be responsible for any foreseeable loss or damage that you may suffer as a result of our breach of these Business Terms or as a result of our negligence. Loss or damage is foreseeable if it is an obvious consequence of our breach or negligence or if it is contemplated by you and us when a contract with you is created. We will not be responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable.
We provide all services only for your personal and private use/purposes. We will not be liable to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, interruption to business or for any loss of business opportunity.
Nothing in these Business Terms is intended to or will exclude or limit our liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, personal injury or death caused by our negligence.
If you are a “consumer” as defined by the United Kingdom Consumer Rights Act 2015, or a consumer for the purposes of any other consumer protection legislation, nothing in these Business Terms is intended to or will exclude, limit, prejudice, or otherwise affect any of our duties or obligations to you, or your rights, or our liability to you, under the Consumer Rights Act 2015; the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013; the Consumer Protection Act 1987; and any other relevant consumer protection legislation.
Dr Nicola Cann does not recommend or make any representation about the efficacy, appropriateness or suitability or any treatments, services or opinions. We cannot guarantee any outcome nor promise to provide a diagnosis.
We may from time to time change these Business Terms without giving you notice, but we will use our reasonable endeavours to inform you as soon as is reasonably possible of any such change.
We are committed to providing helpful and compassionate service to meet the needs of all our clients.
We welcome feedback and want to hear from you if you are at all dissatisfied with our services. In the first instance please raise the matter with Dr Nicola Cann, Company Director, who can be contacted at dr_nicola@drnicolacann.com.
If this is not possible, or should you feel you need further advice and guidance, you can contact the Singapore Psychological Society, Health and Care Professions Council, or New Zealand Psychologists Board.
The type of psychological work offered is not suited to managing emergencies or crises. If you require urgent help between appointments then please contact the emergency services in the country in which you are based.
In Singapore you can contact your GP, the Samaritans of Singapore or the Institute of Mental Health (6389-2222).
In the UK you can contact your GP, use the NHS 111 service for advice, phone 999 or attend A&E. You can also contact the Samaritans’ anonymous helpline on 116 123 or Childline (until you turn 19) on 0800 1111.
In New Zealand there are a number of emergency helplines available, detailed on the Healthpoint website.
We reserve the right, at any time, to withdraw our services to you based on clinical judgement. In such circumstances, any advance payments will be refunded for any services not provided.
We will not undertake any procedure that is in conflict with any law in force, any voluntary or mandatory code or practice, or any similar rules, regulations or codes.
If you need to contact us between appointments please do so by email. We do not provide support outside of consultation sessions. We aim to respond to emails within two working days.
We are required to ensure that certain information is given or made available to you as a consumer before we make our contract with you except where that information is already apparent. We have included this information itself in the Business Terms.
If you have any questions regarding these Business Terms, please do not hesitate to discuss with us, either in a session or by emailing hello@drnicolacann.com.
No failure or delay by us or you in exercising any rights under this Business Terms means that we or you waived any right, and not waiver by us or you of a breach of any provision of this Business Terms means that we or you will waive any subsequent breach of the same or any other provision.
If any provision of these Business Terms is held by any competent authority to be invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part the validity of the other provisions of these Business Terms and the remainder of the provision in question shall not be affected.
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