Do you feel frustrated when you cannot get an appointment?
From January – March 2023 there were 283 missed appointments. This is over 40 hours of wasted GP and Nurse time. This means the patient did not turn up for the appointment and did not contact the surgery in advance to cancel or change the appointment.
The effect of this is:
- An increase in waiting time for appointments
- Frustration for both staff andd patients
- A waste of NHS resources
- A potential risk to the health of patients
Non-attendance is a major issue for the NHS and the Practice, increasing waiting list times and costs. Missed appointments can also increase inappropriate and unnecessary A&E attendances.
We appreciate there can be many reasons why patient fail to attend appointments – they feel better, they are scared, transport problems or they simply forget.
If you need to cancel an appointment please telephone the practice as soon as possible on 0208 864 3466 or cancel via text by replying to your appointment reminder. You can also sign up to the Patient Access Service which allows you to cancel your appointments online.
WHAT WILL WE DO WHEN PATIENTS MISS APPOINTMENTS?
The practice is pro-actively trying to reduce the number of DNAs.
All missed appointments are automatically recorded on a patient’s clinical record, and the Practice can identify patients who repeatedly DNA.
Patients who fail to attend multiple appointments will be sent a warning about their attendance by letter.
