Terms and Conditions

Nutritional Therapy is the application of nutrition science in the promotion of health, peak performance and individual care. Nutritional Therapy practitioners use a wide range of tools to assess and identify potential nutritional imbalances and understand how these may contribute to an individual’s symptoms and health concerns. This approach allows them to work with individuals to address nutritional balance and help support the body towards maintaining health. Nutritional Therapy is recognised as a complementary medicine and is relevant for individuals with chronic conditions, as well as those looking for support to enhance their health and wellbeing.

“Nutritional therapy” will include the application of Functional Medicine methods and principles for the purpose of these terms of engagement.

Practitioners consider each individual to be unique and recommend personalised nutrition and lifestyle programmes rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Practitioners never recommend Nutritional Therapy as a replacement for medical advice and always refer any client with ‘red flag’ signs or symptoms to their medical professional. They will also frequently work alongside a medical professional and will often communicate with other healthcare professionals involved in the client’s care to explain relevant Nutritional Therapy interventions.

1. Nutritional Therapy works alongside conventional forms of care.  Nutritional Therapy is not intended to replace medical advice, diagnose or treat medical conditions.  It is your responsibility to inform your doctor of all medical concerns.  You are also advised to keep your doctor informed of the recommendations you receive from Dr Buker because of possible interactions between medications and your nutritional programme.  Nutritional advice is not a substitute for medical advice and/or treatment.
2. Dr Buker requires that you provide full contact details of your GP.  Should your practitioner identify a need to contact your GP about an aspect of your health or medical history, a letter will be sent directly to your GP.  You will be informed and consulted about all procedures relevant to your case.
3. The suitability of the advice you are given depends considerably on the accuracy of the information you provide in the questionnaires and during consultation.  No responsibility can be accepted in the case of omitted or inaccurate information.  You are expected to provide complete details of diagnosed medical conditions as well as any medication(s) being taken.  Changes in diagnosis and/or medication in the course of your therapeutic programme with Dr Buker should be informed as soon as possible.  You are also expected to provide full details of other nutritional supplements, herbal remedies and other therapeutic agents you may use during the course of your therapeutic programme with Dr Buker.
4. You must pay for all Sessions at the point of purchase. You will receive an invoice at the time of booking the initial consultation . All payments for Nutritional Therapy Sessions must be made in full 2 weeks prior to the appointment, or at the time of booking. If you book a Session and you have not paid in full the Session will be cancelled. You may pre-pay online via direct bank transfer.  You should contact your practitioner for details on how to pay online.
5. We are committed to being on time with patients’ appointments in order to prevent clients from waiting. If you arrive late to the office/Skype/Zoom for your consult your appointment will end at the scheduled time and you will be charged for the length of the originally scheduled visit.
6. Cancellations and re-scheduling of appointments should be done at least 48 hours in advance. Appointments cancelled with less than 48 hours’ notice and ‘no shows’ will be charged in full. Please do bear in mind that we will typically see only 3-4 patients a day and a last minute cancellation is not often possible for us to fill. Rescheduled appointments within the Functional Health Plan or the Metabolic Balance Programme® need to be completed within a 3 month period from the start date. Grassroots Doctor reserves the right to reschedule sessions within the 48hr window, though will only do so if it is absolutely unavoidable.
7. Plans can be refunded as long as they have not started. Once you have started your plan with Grassroots Doctor it becomes non- refundable. In the case of Metabolic Balance® once your blood draws have been taken your plan is non-refundable.In the case of the Functional Health Plan once you have had the first consultation the package is non-refundable.
8. The Health Assessment Questionnaire and Food Diary are documents made available to you when you book your first appointment.  They should be completed and submitted to Dr Buker at least 7 days prior to the initial consultation. Failure to send this information in time will result in the consultation being postponed. These documents are essential tools used in the workup of your case and analysis of your symptoms and conditions.  They save valuable time within your personal consultation and provide information on which the practitioner starts working even before you meet for the first appointment.  It is important that all information provided is as accurate as possible.
9. It is your responsibility to have a working internet connection for all Skype and Zoom sessions. You will be charged for scheduled sessions if your practitioner is waiting for your call, but you are unable to connect online. We will call you for any phone sessions to a UK landline or mobile number if you are in the UK.
10. Communication between consultations aims to address unexpected reactions that require urgent attention.  Your therapist will advise you on booking a Skype, Zoom or telephone consultation between visits in order to provide further support if needed.   These calls are charged and should be booked in advance. Skype, Zoom and phone consultations should be paid via direct bank transfer 24hr prior to the consultation.  Please note it is not possible to provide advice via e-mail.  You are welcome to e-mail your queries, but please expect to be offered a time slot for an extra phone, Zoom or Skype consultation to discuss them.  Skype, Zoom and telephone calls are charged a flat rate for each half hour or part of.
11. When necessary, laboratory tests may be suggested as tools to clarify possible underlying imbalances. We may also share your contact information with biochemical testing companies to order tests as part of your healthcare, some of which maybe from outside of the European Union. These tests incur additional costs although some might be available through NHS if agreed by your GP.  Your practitioner will explain the applicability of possible tests giving you the choice of whether to take them or not. You will be involved in the decision-making process of your programme at all times.  Test results require professional interpretation and for that reason are sent directly to your practitioner.  Results are disclosed and explained to you in a follow up consultation.
12. If supplements are recommended by Dr Buker, they should be taken in the correct amount, at the correct time and for the duration of time specified in your programme.  You are strongly advised to comply with the specific supplements detailed in your programme as quality and effectiveness can vary wildly between manufacturers.  This advice aims to provide you with the most effective supplements for your individual needs and circumstances.  Your practitioner may suggest retailers where you can source all supplements though you are free to source them yourself (as long as you buy the same supplements specified in your recommendation).  Please note your practitioner may receive commission from supplement and laboratory tests prescribed.
13. The outcomes of Nutritional Therapy/Functional Medicine vary amongst individuals and the success of the therapy will depend on your compliance.  No responsibility can be accepted in the case of non-compliance, alterations to the original programme by third parties or alterations to the supplement suggestions.  If you are unclear about the agreed Nutritional Therapy/Functional Medicine programme/food/supplement doses/time period, you should contact your practitioner promptly for clarification.
14. Dr Buker does not provide Nutritional Therapy/Functional Medicine services for children under the age of 16years.
15. All individual information gathered and analysed in the process of a case is strictly confidential. The information you provide Grassroots Doctor will be safely processed and stored for the purposes of the development of your therapeutic programme, administration and future reference. Dr Buker will keep your personal information confidential and secure following the GDPR guidelines for the practice and your details will not be passed on to third parties without written consent. However, if the Dr Buker believes there is a risk of significant harm to yourself or another person, she may pass the information onto an appropriate authority using the legal basis of vital interest.
16. Recording consultations using any form of electronic media is not allowed without the written permission of both client and Dr Buker.
17. Dr Buker seeks to continuously improve her practice through professional development, a key part of which is sharing case histories with peers through clinical supervision, online forums and discussion groups. Your name, address and contact details will never be shared.
18. Grassrootsdoctor.com is a website and trading style of Dr Mandy Buker.

We understand the above and agree that our professional relationship will be based on the content of this document. We declare that all the information we share during this professional relationship is confidential and to the best of our knowledge, true and correct.