Number of missed hospital appointments cut thanks to telephone reminder service

News from our partners Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust

The number of people missing hospital appointments in Shropshire has fallen by 2.5 per cent since the introduction of a telephone and text reminder service for patients.

The scheme, run by The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), has proved a major success, with the number of missed appointments dropping from 8% to 5.5% – the equivalent of 449 appointments a month.

The Trust’s service contacts more than 8,500 patients every month and any DNA – Did Not Attend – means a valuable appointment slot is lost.

The reduction in missed appointments means waiting times for patients are shorter as people don’t need to be re-booked for dates further ahead, while also saving the Trust approximately £581,904 per year.

Mr Mark Cheetham, Medical Director for Scheduled Care at SaTH, said:

“The reminders mean more patients are being seen in the clinics and are treated faster. Far fewer valuable slots are being missed since the introduction of the reminder service. Everyone benefits.”

The Trust uses the ‘Netcall’ system which uses a variety of specialist scripts to remind people of the date, time and location of their appointment. This is used for the majority of appointments booked within the hospital and patients are asked if they will be attending the appointment, and if they cannot they are asked if they would like to speak to someone to rearrange it.

When calls are not answered and there is a voicemail available, a message is left giving instructions for patients to call back into the system using a pin number to retrieve their message. This then repeats the call process. Calls start from 10am each day and stop at 8pm (12noon on a Saturday). There is also an option to opt out of the reminder service.

The Trust’s call centre take an average of 18,000 calls per month, with 81 per cent of these answered within 15 seconds.

The call centre was introduced at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital five years ago and is open from 8am until 8pm every weekday and also on Saturday mornings.

Mr Cheetham added:

“Locating all the booking staff in one call centre was a huge improvement on the previous system and it meant we could keep open for a longer period of time so people can contact us after work or on Saturday mornings.

“This, coupled with the automated call and text reminder service, has been a huge success.”

Every missed appointment costs an average of £108, according to NHS England 2012/13 data. SaTH estimates missed appointments to cost between £108 and £160 depending on the speciality.

Further information

• The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is the main provider of acute hospital care for almost 500,000 people from Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and mid Wales. Patients come to us from Telford, Shrewsbury, Ludlow, Oswestry, Bridgnorth, Whitchurch, Newtown and Welshpool in Powys.
• The Trust continues to work with its partners in health and social care in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and mid Wales to develop patient-focused services that meet the needs of our communities.