These terms and conditions set out our service standards and the basis upon which we agree to advise you and / or provide our services. By your continuing to engage us we are entitled to assume you have agreed with the terms and conditions set out below. Bookings by telephone will be on the understanding that these terms and conditions are agreed.

These are the terms and conditions laid out for each practitioner who provides the Gut Wellness Programme. When engaging the services of a practitioner, you are entering a contract with that individual practitioner to provide the agreed services.

 1.      Agreed Cost of Services

 Cost quotations where provided are valid for 30 days but the terms and conditions remain as stated for the duration of the provision of services unless varied in writing as set out below.

 2.      Payment

 Payment for programme packages and additional appointments are to be paid in full at the time of booking. by Same Day [BACS], standing order, cash or cheque. An invoice will be provided for record purposes where required. We understand and will exercise our right to claim interest and compensation for debt recovery costs under the late payment legislation if we are not paid according to agreed credit terms.

 Once you have signed up to the programme or any additional appointments any cancellations will be charged as stated in ‘10’ below. Non-attendance will be treated as late cancellation.

 You have a 14 day cooling off period from the time you sign up to the programme during which you can cancel subject to any cancellation charges for appointments already booked. Any treatment or advice given during this period will be charged for and the remaining amount refunded. The cooling off period ends earlier once a face to face appointment has commenced.

 3.      Force Majeure

 We will be released from all liability to the client if performance of the contract is delayed or prevented by any cause beyond our control.

 4.      Confidentiality and Privacy Policy

 All dealings between us shall be treated as confidential and shall not be disclosed to any third party without the consent of the other unless such disclosure takes place as a result of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction or other lawful authority. Wherever possible in practice and at law you will be informed if any such disclosure is sought.

 Any medical records associated with the provision of our services will be retained in a lockable filing cabinet at reasonably secure lockable work premises and only our authorised personnel will have keys.

 Information may be scanned and / or retained on a computer and every effort will be made to ensure that the only personnel who have access to such records will be our authorised personnel.

 We may collect personal data from you including, without limitation, your name, age, medical condition and a valid email address, and any information raised in our questionnaires which will assist us in advising you. None of this information will be shared with any third parties without your written consent.  A copy of our detailed Privacy Policy is available on our website or will be provided on request.

 5.      Terms of Use of Website

 Our website contains content generated by us and is provided for general information purposes only. It does not provide advice upon which you can rely and it is not a substitute for qualified advice from one of our practitioners or from other medically qualified practitioners.

 Any links from the website or from documents provided to you, are to reputable sources and the content contained within can be a valuable source of information. However, not all medical resources on the internet are authoritative or current. Any decision about your health or medical care based solely on information obtained from the internet could be dangerous.

 Although we make reasonable efforts to update the information on our website we make no representations and give no warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, as to its accuracy or as to whether it is complete and up-to-date.

 We are the owner (or the licensee) of all intellectual property rights in our website and in the material published on it. Those works are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved.

 You may download and / or print off one copy of extracts from any page(s) of our website for your personal use and you may (in a non-commercial context) draw the attention of others to content posted on our website. You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded and you must not further use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequence or any graphics separately from any accompanying text.

 You must not use any of the content of our website for commercial purposes without a licence from us and our status (and that of any identifiable contributors) as the author(s) of the content on our website must always be acknowledged.

 You may link to our website only with our consent and subject to any further terms which we impose as a condition of our consent.

 We do not guarantee that our website will be secure or free from bugs and viruses and you should use your own up-to-date anti-virus software.

 6.      Limitation of Liability

In common with most professional healthcare practices we limit our liability in respect of any claim to a maximum of any sum which you have paid to us as the costs of our services (except where the law obliges us to be responsible for a greater sum).

 Our healthcare advice and treatment is not intended in any way to be a substitute for professional medical care by a qualified doctor or other healthcare professional. It is of course a matter of your personal choice but we tend to work as far as possible in conjunction with medical practitioners and we recommend that you check with your doctor if you have any concerns about your condition or treatment and before taking or not taking any action on the basis of our advice. If you choose not to follow our recommendation we may, as a condition of our continued support, ask you to sign a document acknowledging this advice and accepting responsibility for your continued treatment.

 We are not responsible for your failure to carry out our advice and recommendations in strict accordance with our instructions. In cases where we recommend products which are supplied by reputable suppliers we are not responsible for any effect or side-effects of treatment with such products and you must always rely on the manufacturer’s guidelines and instructions in using such products.

 We make every reasonable effort to check the accuracy of our professional advice and information and we carry out our services to a high degree of professionalism. However, to the extent permitted by law we exclude all conditions, warranties, representations or other terms together with all liability for negligence in respect of such advice and information, whether provided personally or through our website, and in respect of any other service provided by us.

 We are not responsible for any error you have made in providing information to us whether in consultation or in response to our health questionnaires.

 Nothing in these terms and conditions excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability which cannot be excluded under English law.

 7.      Complaints

If there is any reason for you to complain about any of our services this should be addressed in the first place to your Gut Wellness practitioner who will attempt to resolve it (and may request you to state it clearly in writing). A formal complaint may be made to the Gut Wellness partnership usually in writing emailed to info@gutwellness.uk.  In the event that a satisfactory solution cannot be agreed you may have the right depending on the nature of the complaint to have the matter referred to the professional association the practitioner is a member of. Our Compliments and Complaints Policy gives more details.

8.      Governing Law

These terms and conditions and the agreement which exists between us are governed by English law. You and we both agree that the courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes or claims which may arise (save that if you are a resident of Scotland you may bring proceedings in Scotland or if you are a resident of Northern Ireland you may bring proceedings in Northern Ireland but such proceedings shall otherwise be governed by English law).

If you access our website from outside the United Kingdom then we make no representation that the content of the website will be suitable for your requirements or that it is permissible for you to access the same and the use of the website is entirely at your own risk. You are responsible for ensuring that you act in accordance with any applicable laws.

9.      General

We reserve the right to change these terms and conditions and any contents thereof including our schedule of charges at any time and if any part of our terms and conditions are deemed invalid or unenforceable the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed to be superseded by a valid and enforceable provision which most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the remainder of the agreement will at all times continue in effect.

10.   General Guidelines

Appointments and cancellations

1.      You should allow plenty of time to get to your appointment so that you arrive in time and don’t feel stressed! Also be ready and in time for online or telephone appointments. Should you arrive too late then we may offer a reschedule so that we can fully carry out your planned treatment and not hold up the following patients. There may be a charge for a reschedule and arriving too late or non-attendance can be considered as late cancellations.

2.      You must provide us with a minimum of 48 hours’ notice should you wish to change your appointment, so that the time can be offered to another patient. If notice is not given, we do have to make a full charge for the allocated time, or charge for a new appointment where this is rescheduled within one of our programmes.  In the case of a genuine emergency we reserve the right to use our discretion in waiving the charge.

3.      Your practitioner has the right to decide if the agreed programme is not suitable for the patient after the treatment has started and end the treatment programme. In this case, any treatments and support not yet taken will be refunded in full.

4.      Your appointments and package are not transferable to another person.

Programme Bookings

5.      It is recommended that all appointments take place within the duration period of the programme to get best results.  Appointments that are part of a treatment packages are valid for a limited period only. If you book a 3 month package, all appointments must be completed within 6 months of the first appointment, and within10 months if you book a 6 month programme.

6.      The programme package or appointments cannot be transferred to another person once the programme has been started.

7.      Cancellations of block bookings/packages part way through a treatment course will not normally be refunded, but may at our absolute discretion be refunded and any treatments/support taken will be charged at the full treatment rates.

8.      Payments can be made by cash, cheques, standing order, bank transfers or direct debit.

9.      For any outstanding payments we will send two reminder letters to your address as registered with us and then we will place the account in the hands of a debt collecting agency and you will be charged directly for their fees. If you change address it is your responsibility to notify us.

Prescriptions

10.   During the course of your treatment you will be prescribed nutritional and herbal products which are not included in the consultation or package price. Since treatments are individually tailored; it is not possible to give absolute costs; however, we do recommend you budget between £50-80/month unless advised otherwise. In certain circumstances intensive treatments will be recommended which may require the use of numerous herbs and supplements. Depending on the individual program, these can range anywhere from £80 to £150.

11.   If you have budgetary limits then it is your responsibility to draw this to our attention and discuss these with your practitioner.

12.   All products recommended are selected from suppliers that offer the highest quality of natural products as close to food source as possible.

13.   If you feel your symptoms are worsening or you suspect you are having an adverse reaction to any remedies prescribed then we ask you to stop taking them immediately and get in touch with your practitioner.

Communication and support

14.   You are entitled to receive email and other support during the programme as laid out in the selected package. We ask that you use email only to communicate with your practitioner as this makes it easier to track communication. Other forms of communication like text or WhatApp should not be used, unless agreed with your practitioner.

15.   If you require more support between appointments than agreed in the package, this may be charged at an agreed rate.

Building a Healthy Relationship with your Practitioner

16.   We value honesty and confidentiality. Patients coming to us will be discussing their health issues and other private information about their life. Whilst we understand it might be stressful and daunting to talk about issues in such depth, it is important for us to have a clear picture of our patients. It is up to you what information you feel comfortable sharing – sharing such details helps us work out the best treatment plan.

17.   If you have a serious mental health condition please discuss your circumstances with the practitioner. We may ask you to come with a chaperone/guardian to your appointment. If you have recently been detained under the Mental Health Act or have been put under a Community Treatment Order you must inform us of this prior to booking the programme as it may not be appropriate for us to treat you.

18.   We will not tolerate any aggressive or violent behavior, or rudeness, foul and abusive language towards any practitioner. Whilst life can sometimes be stressful and our patients might go through challenging times,  if such behavior occurs, you will be asked to leave immediately and you will receive a written confirmation by email that you have been removed from our practitioner’s care.

19.   The Gut Wellness programme is not suitable for anyone suffering from addiction to drugs or alcohol unless they are significantly down the path of recovery.