Service Terms and Conditions for Join Psychology Limited
Introduction
Our Terms and Conditions summarise the finer details of our work with you. We understand you may have lots of questions about your work with Join Psychology and we hope to help you understand our ways of working so you can decide whether you would like to work with us. Please take the time to read this information carefully as it is important you understand and agree to the Terms and Conditions before we start our work together as we ask that you read, sign and return a copy of these Terms and Conditions before we begin our work together. These terms and conditions were last updated on 9th June 2025.
Professional Information
Dr Jo Coombs, trading as Join Psychology Limited, is registered with the United Kingdom’s Health and Care Professions Council, (HCPC). All Clinical Psychologists practising within the UK must be registered with the HCPC. In order to maintain their practising registration, all Clinical Psychologists must continue to demonstrate compliance with a range of HCPC minimum standards of conduct, performance and ethics. www.hcpc-uk.org.
All services offered by the Practice are delivered under the regulations in law as specified by the HCPC in the United Kingdom, or under the necessary body for the practitioner where the practitioner is not a Clinical Psychologist.
We may engage associate clinical psychologists and/or other suitably qualified health professionals to carry out some of the work involved in providing our services. These associates are qualified professionals who adhere to the same professional standards and confidentiality obligations as our in-house clinical psychologists. Rest assured that all associate clinical psychologists are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Other health professionals will also be registered with the appropriate professional and regulatory bodies. By engaging with our services, you consent to the potential involvement of associate clinical psychologists and/or other health professionals in your care. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please feel free to discuss them with us.
Appointments
Consultations shall be by appointment only. Details of the consultation timings, length and fees shall be made available to you in advance of the consultation. Initial appointments can be made by emailing or telephoning the practice. Subsequent appointments can be made during your consultation with us or by telephone, email or via WhatsApp.
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 you will be charged (See Cancellations below). This is the case no matter whether the appointment is for a face to face, online, or telephone session.
Neurodevelopmental and Psychological Assessments
The cost of assessments is outlined in our current price list. Payment is required at the time of booking, and the fee includes all sessions and the final report. Please see the Cancellation section of these Terms and Conditions if you need to cancel an assessment.
Our assessments are designed to evaluate various conditions through a comprehensive approach. This involves gathering information through interviews, questionnaires, specialised tests, and observation. The assessment process typically includes an initial consultation, followed by a series of appointments where standardised tests and clinical interviews are conducted. We may also request feedback from relevant professionals involved in your (or your child’s) care.
It is crucial that clients refrain from using any substances, including alcohol, recreational drugs, or non-prescribed medications, prior to undergoing certain assessments. The use of such substances can significantly affect the test results, leading to inaccurate outcomes. If it is determined that substances were used before the assessment, the test will need to be repeated to ensure accurate results. Please note that an additional charge will apply for the repeated test.
As part of our assessment process, we may use online assessment questionnaire providers to collect health data. Your explicit consent is required for us to engage these third-party organisations to gather and process your health information. By providing your consent, you acknowledge and agree that these providers may collect, use, and store your data in accordance with their privacy policies and practices. Following the assessment, a detailed report will be provided, summarising the findings and any diagnosis made. This report will include recommendations for treatment or management strategies if a condition is diagnosed.
It is important to understand that not all assessments result in a diagnosis. After the assessment, follow-up appointments can be arranged to discuss the results in detail and explore treatment options. These appointments are charged separately.
We do not have any responsibility for prescribing or managing medication. The determination of whether medication can be offered, and is suitable for an individual, is the responsibility of a General Practitioner (GP), Psychiatrist or other suitably qualified health professional. Our assessments focus on evaluating the presence of conditions and providing a comprehensive report with recommendations for treatment or management strategies. However, it is important to understand that the outcome of our assessment does not guarantee that medication will be offered or deemed appropriate. You will need to consult with your GP, Psychiatrist or other suitably qualified health professional for any decisions related to medication.
Please be advised that we do not offer refunds if a local authority, educational institution, or any other third-party refuses to accept a diagnostic assessment report provided by us. Our assessments and reports are conducted and prepared in accordance with professional standards and guidelines. However, we cannot guarantee acceptance by external bodies, which may have their own criteria and policies for recognising diagnostic assessment reports. We recommend discussing specific requirements with the relevant third party prior to commencing the assessment process with us.
Online Sessions
Sessions may be provided online via a pre-agreed livestream service (for example Cliniko, 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 may be subject to the privacy policy of the third-party supplier. 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.
If we provide any of our services as a livestream, we will use all reasonable endeavours to start at the time scheduled. If 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:
- To fix technical problems or to make necessary technical changes; or
- In the event of illness or other circumstances beyond our control.
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.
Ahead of your online 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 your mobile, laptop or tablet device is helpful in blocking out 'feedback' noise and ensuring extra privacy.
Recording of Sessions
To maintain our high-level professional accreditations, we may audio or video record some therapy sessions to be discussed within our 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, tablet technology, hidden audio/visual recording devices and live online meeting platforms (Skype/Facetime/Zoom/WhatsApp/Teams etc). 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.
Cancellations
We understand that sometimes our clients may need to change or cancel appointments and we are happy to reschedule appointments when needed. We kindly ask our clients to give us at least 48 hours’ notice if you need to cancel a session. This is so that we have sufficient time to offer the slot to another client or person in need our of services. Sessions cancelled with less than 48 hours’ notice, or those for which a client does not attend, will be charged at the full, agreed rate.
Insurers do not pay for late cancelled or non-attended appointments and therefore, you are required to pay the full fees for missed or late cancelled appointments.
Once work has commenced on a psychological and/or neurodevelopmental assessment, it cannot be cancelled. By agreeing to proceed with an assessment, you acknowledge and accept that the resources and time allocated to your assessment are committed from the outset. Consequently, no refunds will be issued for assessments once they have begun, regardless of the stage of completion. This policy ensures that we can maintain the quality and integrity of our services for all clients.
Third-Party Venues
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 are responsible for your own belongings that you take to a session. We will not be liable for any loss, damage, theft or destruction of any of your belongings.
Payment
Invoices for Psychological Therapy sessions are sent after each session and payment for Psychological Assessments is required in advance. In some circumstances we may agree an instalment plan in which case payment must be made in accordance with that. We accept payment by bank transfer only. We do not accept cash, cheques or on-site card payments.
All prices of services shown in the price list are exclusive of VAT (which is not chargeable unless we notify you otherwise). We may alter our prices without prior notice. Increases made between the time when you book an appointment and the date of the appointment will not apply to your appointment 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.
Private Healthcare Funding
Our Clinical Psychologists are registered as clinical practitioners with a number of healthcare providers including Aviva, AXA, BUPA, Healix, Vitality Health and WPA. Each provider and every healthcare plan has different rules and regulations of engagement. As the insurance policy holder, you are responsible for checking with the insurer how many sessions will be funded and whether you have the responsibility to part-pay the fee. We are not party to any contract between you and your insurance provider.
If the services are being covered by your private healthcare insurance (e.g. AXA, Aviva, BUPA, etc.) please ensure you provide the name of the insurance company, your policy number and authorisation code on the provided Registration Details Form.
Please note that most insurance companies will not pay for any missed/cancelled appointments, and in such circumstances, you will be fully liable to pay the full costs to us (see above). You should check your health insurance policy to ensure you know when they will and will not cover your costs. If you are obliged to pay any excess or part payments as part of your health insurance policy, then these will be paid by you directly to us as per the terms set out in the Payment section above. In cases where your treatment is being covered in full by a health insurance company then payment of our charges will be made by your health insurance company and the payment terms in this section will not apply to you except for missed treatments (see above).
Medico-Legal Funding
For clients attending therapy as a result of a personal injury or medical negligence claims process, funding will normally be provided via their legal representative. We will invoice and collect payment from the legal representative unless otherwise agreed. We will invoice for missed or late-cancelled (fewer than 48 hours’ notice) appointments unless under exceptional circumstances. Payment for cancelled appointments or for any failure to attend without prior notice may be the client’s own responsibility. We advise Medico-Legal clients to check with their legal representative what the arrangements for payment are in the event of missed or late-cancelled sessions.
Funding via Employer
For clients attending therapy 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.
Out of Session Contact
We are contactable by telephone and email during standard working hours (10:00 - 17:00 Monday-Friday). If we are unable to answer or respond to your enquiry immediately, please leave a message, and we always aim to respond to your contact within 3 working days. If leaving telephone messages, we find it helpful if you could please let us know a bit about the nature of your call (for example, scheduling or change of appointment, enquiry about services).
We are unable to provide an urgent care or out-of-hours service but do understand that at times, our clients may need access to more urgent support. We will provide you with information about local urgent care services when we begin our work with you. We kindly ask that clients do not leave urgent messages on the Join Psychology practice voicemail but if you need to speak with someone urgently, depending on the particular issue, you could contact:
- Your GP or out-of-hours GP service.
- NHS non-emergency services on 111.
- Non-emergency services help on 101.
- In case of emergency, call 999.
We do not connect with our clients on personal social media accounts, either during the time of our work together or after completion.
Confidentiality
Please also see our Privacy Policy for information on how we collect, store, process and share your personal data related to the services we provide to you.
Your contact with Join Psychology, including information gathered prior to assessment, discussed in assessment and therapy sessions and all written material, is confidential. This means that we will not disclose any information about you to any third party, unless you agree and consent to this. There are two exceptions to this:
- Clinical Supervision: As recommended by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), we have an ethical duty under our professional Code of Conduct to have regular supervision from another appropriately qualified psychologist. This process ensures we continue to offer clients the best possible support and services. As psychologists, we meet regularly with a clinical supervisor to discuss elements of our work; the clinical supervisor will also abide by the same professional and ethical codes of conduct. During this process, we will share relevant information pertaining to your situation to help us make sense of, review and develop new ideas for helping you but will not share identifiable information, such as your full name.
- Risk: We have both an ethical and a legal obligation to take steps to protect our clients, children and other members of the public from risk of harm. This means that in the event that a client discloses information to us that indicates either they, or another person, are at risk of serious harm to themselves, other people or at risk from other people, we must inform relevant third parties (for example, next of kin, GP, social services, the police etc.) so that they can act to reduce that risk. Where possible, we will always try to contact you before sharing any information to manage risk to make you aware of the need, and the reasons, to break confidentiality. In exceptional circumstances, it may not be possible to inform and discuss this with you before we make contact with others to manage risk, but we will always ensure we discuss with you the reasons for and impact of this, including any future risk assessment and management strategies needed in future.
Our commitment to client confidentiality is not affected by who pays for the service provided by us. When working with 16/17 year olds, we do not share information with parents/carers without the young person’s prior consent, presuming the young person has mental capacity. The only exception to this may be related to safeguarding and risk management, as outlined above.
General Practitioner (GP) Liaison
We do not routinely share information with your GP unless explicitly requested by you. We ask for your GP’s contact details solely for the purpose of taking urgent protective action, such as in cases of risk or safeguarding. We do not send pre or post-referral letters unless under very specific circumstances, or when requested. Additional letters will incur a fee which must be paid by the person funding the clinical work and will be based on the pro-rata hourly rate. If a medical or legal professional or social worker requests information from us, we will not release this without your consent unless there is a legal obligation to do so.
How We Use Your/the Client’s Personal Information (Data Protection)
We will only use your personal information as set out in our Privacy Policy on our website. If you do not have access to the internet we can provide you with a printed version of our Privacy Policy. We are registered as Data Controllers with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as required by the Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018.
In certain circumstances, we may be required to share your personal and sensitive data for medico-legal purposes. This includes instances where your therapy is part of a legal process, such as personal injury or medical negligence claims, or if required by a court order. In such cases, consent may not be necessary. We will ensure that any data shared for these purposes will be done in accordance with applicable data protection laws and only to the extent necessary for the medico-legal purposes.
Note Keeping
All clinical notes and documents completed by us about clients during our sessions are stored electronically using the Cliniko clinical record system. This system is safeguarded with password protection and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to ensure the security of your information. Additionally, information may be temporarily stored in Tresorit, a cloud-based file storage solution.
When paper copies of documents are created, they are retained only until they can be scanned and uploaded to our secure system. Once digitised, the paper documents are shredded using a secure shredding service. Until they are shredded, these documents may be temporarily kept in a locked cabinet, ensuring their security until a larger shredding collection can be arranged.
If we need to send emails that contain detailed information (for example to yourself or to your GP), we will either use a secure email system such as Egress or we may send a password-protected link to a document and share the password separately. We encourage you to do the same if you need to email us detailed information.
If you have any questions or require further information on how your documents are handled and stored, please do not hesitate to ask. We retain ownership of 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 possible for the courts to access notes should they need to in relation to a matter of public interest. In this unlikely event, you will be informed before the notes are released.
Limitation of Liability
We will be responsible for any foreseeable loss or damage that you may suffer as a result of our breach of these Terms and Conditions 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 Terms and Conditions is intended to or will exclude or limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
Furthermore, if you are a “consumer” as defined by the Consumer Rights Act 2015, or a consumer for the purposes of any other consumer protection legislation, nothing in these Terms and Conditions is intended to or will exclude, limit, prejudice, or otherwise affect any of our duties or obligations to you, or your rights or remedies, or our liability to you, under the Consumer Rights Act 2015; the Consumer Contracts (Information and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013; the Consumer Protection Act 1987; and any other consumer protection legislation.
For more details of your legal rights, please refer to your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau or Trading Standards Office. The Practice does not recommend or make any representation about the efficacy, appropriateness or suitability of any treatments, services or opinions. We cannot guarantee any outcome nor promise to provide a diagnosis.
Changes to these Terms and Conditions
We may from time to time change these Terms and Conditions without giving you notice, but we will use our reasonable endeavours to inform you as soon as is reasonably possible of any such change.
Complaints and Standards
We are committed to providing as helpful and compassionate a service as possible to meet the needs of all our clients.
We always welcome feedback from our clients and, whilst we shall use all reasonable endeavours to provide a high standard of service, care and treatment to all clients and patients, we nevertheless want to hear from you if you have any cause for complaint. If you have any complaint about our services or any other complaint about us, please raise the matter with Dr Jo Coombs, who can be contacted at
If this is not possible, or should you feel you would like to take the matter further, you can contact the British Psychological Society for further advice. https://www.bps.org.uk/submitting-complaint
You may wish to raise your concern directly with the Health and Care Professions Council, should you feel you have encountered an issue of fitness to practise. This can be done by following this link:https://www.hcpc-uk.org/concerns/raising-concerns/
General
We reserve the right, at any time, to withdraw therapy and 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.
We insist that we do not meet you or your child face to face if you are experiencing symptoms of an infectious illness, e.g. influenza or chest infection. Online or telephone sessions can be arranged in lieu, should you or your child be well enough.
Appointment times or other queries can be clarified by contacting
If you need to contact us between appointments please do so by email or telephone. We do not provide therapeutic support outside of therapy sessions. Our working hours are with Monday – Friday, 10:00 – 17:00. We aim to respond to emails/voicemails within 3 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. This information is included in these Terms and Conditions or will be made available to you before we accept a booking from you. All of that information will be part of the terms of our contract with you.
If you have any questions regarding these Terms and Conditions, please do not hesitate to discuss with us, either in a session or by contacting us.
No Waiver
If a party fails to enforce a right under this Agreement, that is not a waiver of that right.
Severance
If any provision of these Terms and Conditions is held by any competent authority to be invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, the validity of the other provisions of these Terms and Conditions and the remainder of the provision in question shall not be affected.
Governing Law and Jurisdiction
These Terms and Conditions are subject to the laws of England & Wales and the jurisdiction of the English Courts.
As a consumer, you will benefit from any mandatory provisions of the law in your country of residency.
Accessibility
If you have any difficulties reading and/or understanding the Terms and Conditions, please contact us and we will try to help you understand the information.
