DNA (Did Not Attend) Policy

Approximately 100 appointments per month are classified as ‘Did Not Attend’ (DNA) – i.e. the patient did not turn up for the appointment and did not contact the surgery in advance to cancel/change the appointment. The effects of these are:

–     An increase in the waiting time for appointments

–     Frustration for both staff and patients

–     A waste of clinical resources

–     A potential risk to the health of the patient

Policy

The Practice reviews frequent non-attenders monthly to identify patients who should be excluded from the general policy for clinical reasons such as memory problems.

If a patient consistently fails to attend, a letter will be sent explaining the implications and offering assistance. We will continue to review the patient’s appointment attendance for the foreseeable future and should they continue to miss appointments, a decision will be taken with regard to their ability to pre-book routine appointments in the future.

Persistent offenders who have received previous letters within a 12 month period could risk removal from the practice.

What we can do to try and help

If you would like to receive a text reminder for your appointment, please ensure that we have your mobile telephone number.

If you have specific problems that you wish to discuss that are preventing you from informing us when you cannot attend for an appointment, then please ring the surgery and we will try and help where we can.

Please see full policy here