When a patient misses their appointment, it is referred to as a Did Not Attend (DNA).
More than 15 million general practice appointments are being wasted each year because patients do not turn up and fail to warn surgeries that they will not be attending. Reducing missed appointments helps to ensure that clinical time is used effectively and means patients on the waiting list can be seen more quickly. Understanding the reasons why patients might have missed their appointment provides an opportunity to take action to address them.
Each appointment costs an average of £30, putting the total cost to the NHS at more than £216million pounds on top of the disruption for staff and fellow patients that would pay for:
- The annual salary of 2,325 full time GPs
- 224, 640 cataract operations
- 58,320 hip replacement operations
- 216,000 drug treatment courses for Alzheimer’s
- The annual salary of 8, 424 full time community nurses
In the last month we have had a total of ‘457 ‘ failed to attend appointments.
If you are not able to attend your scheduled appointment it is very important you let us know beforehand, you can do this by calling us on 0116 215 1105 or emailing us on [email protected].