A shift gets swapped, a child gets sick, or the internet goes down ten minutes before the call. Moving a telehealth appointment is ordinary, and a clinic expects it. The cost of moving depends on how much notice you give, and the clinic should tell you its terms before you pay.
Key points:
- Give notice as early as you can. Under LeafLine Clinic’s published policy, cancelling more than 48 hours ahead means a full refund or a reschedule without penalty.
- Inside 48 hours, a fee can apply. A late cancellation may incur 50% of the consultation fee, and a no-show forfeits the full fee.
- Joining more than 15 minutes late can count as a no-show. Test your setup before the appointment time.
- A dropped connection is the clinic’s problem to manage. National telehealth guidelines expect practitioners to have a process to continue or reschedule if the technology fails.
- A missed review can leave a gap in your prescription. Rebook it promptly, before your repeats or approval run out.
How do you move an appointment?
Contact the clinic as soon as you know. Email gives you a dated record of when you gave notice, which matters if a fee depends on the timing. At LeafLine Clinic you can email admin@leaflineclinic.com.au or use the contact options on our support page.
Offer two or three alternative times in the same message, so the clinic can confirm one in a single reply. If your appointment is a review with your regular Clinician, say that you want to stay with the same person. A slightly later date with your own Clinician is usually better for your care than an earlier one with someone new.
What does the cancellation policy say?
The Medical Board of Australia’s telehealth guidelines say patients should have the billing arrangements explained and give financial consent before a consultation. A cancellation policy is part of those billing arrangements, so read it before you book.
LeafLine Clinic publishes its policy on the fees page:
- More than 48 hours before the appointment: a full refund, or the option to reschedule without penalty.
- Within 48 hours of the appointment: a cancellation fee of 50% of the consultation fee may apply.
- No-show: not attending without prior notice forfeits the full consultation fee.
- Late arrival: joining more than 15 minutes late may be treated as a no-show, and the full fee still applies.
Other clinics set different terms. Check the notice period and the fee before you pay, because the policy you accepted at booking is the one that applies.
What happens if the connection drops?
The Medical Board guidelines ask practitioners to have processes in place to continue or reschedule a consultation if the technology fails, and to tell patients beforehand what to do if it does. They also ask practitioners to record any technical issues in your notes.
In practice, a dropped video call often turns into a phone call. Keep your phone charged and nearby, with the ringer on, so the Clinician can ring you if the video fails. If you cannot reconnect at all, email the clinic straight away with the time the call dropped. Ask at booking how the clinic treats a consultation cut short by a technical fault, so you know before it happens.
You can cut the risk on your side with a few checks:
- Join from the device you tested. Swapping to a different laptop at the last minute is when microphones and cameras fail.
- Close other apps and pause large downloads. Video calls need steady bandwidth more than raw speed.
- Sit close to the router, or use mobile data if your home connection is unreliable.
- Log in five minutes early. That leaves time to fix a problem without eating into the appointment or tipping you past the 15-minute mark.
What if you miss a review?
You can rebook a missed review, but the gap can affect your supply. Two clocks run behind most ongoing prescriptions: the repeats left on your current prescription, and, where an approval sits behind it, the period written on the approval letter. If the review that would have renewed either one does not happen, you can reach the end of your supply before a new prescription is in place.
Contact the clinic the same day and ask for the next available time with your Clinician. Tell them how many repeats you have left and, if you know it, the expiry date of any approval, so they can see how much time there is. Our guide to renewing your prescription by telehealth suggests booking a review two to three weeks before your final repeat, and the guide to your approval and when it expires explains the approval period.
If the clinic rebooks you and you then need to move again, the same notice rules apply to the new appointment.
The bottom line
Tell the clinic in writing as early as you can, and offer alternative times. Under LeafLine Clinic’s policy, more than 48 hours’ notice means a refund or a reschedule without penalty, a late cancellation may cost half the fee, and a no-show or a join more than 15 minutes late costs the full fee. If the connection fails, keep your phone nearby and contact the clinic straight away. If you miss a review, rebook it the same day and tell the clinic where your repeats and approval dates stand.
Every fee and the full cancellation policy are on the fees page. If you have a question before booking, the free 10-minute info call is with our patient-support team.
This article is general information only. Cancellation terms are from LeafLine Clinic’s published fees page; telehealth guidance is from the Medical Board of Australia, read on 27 October 2026.
