Text telling me about a hospital appointment

[TiesThatBindMe]

Received a text yesterday along the lines of "We are expecting you for your appointment at XX hospital at 3pm on the 20th. If you do not attend it will cost the NHS £160. To cancel ring xxxxxxx number'.

The hospital mentioned is one I've been a patient at, but I am not aware of, nor have I received any letter regarding any outpatient appointment.

Even if it is legitimate, I don't know what department it's for! Do I just show up with some spurious text?

Does this sound dodgy to anyone bar myself?

We always get text reminders, tbh with the amount of appointments DH has they are a godsend.

Have you your hospital number - the booking number should be able to tell you which dept.

My hospital appointments come by text even though I haven't asked for this....usually followed by a letter but not always.
They also do the "it costs XXX if you miss this" bit....but I'm usually waiting for or expecting a review appointment, so odd that you aren't....the rest of it seems OK to me.

OP maybe the hospital have posted the appointment to your old address?

So you could have a genuine appointment but know nothing about it!

I think it's not a bad thing to make patients aware of how much an appointment costs to the NHS.

For me I didn't take it as a threat or anything, just more for information and ensure I get there on time etc!

I wonder how much DNAs cost to the NHS?! Especially wit appointments being sent to the wrong/old address

*Did Not Attend

I have a text on my phone for a hospital appointment.

It starts with "[email protected]"

Then there is a message outlining my name, the hospital, the date and time. Then it gives a normal local number (not leak rate) for the hospital.

I'd call the number, once you know it's a genuine number.

Hope that helps

Looks like a standard reminder text. Maybe one that's gone astray. Be careful, but don't be paranoid! Call the hospital - get the number from the phone book or internet.

We send a text reminder explaining the cost of non attendance so that sounds legit.Sending to wrong number sounds like human error.

Totally standard. No scam

Could you ask for a chaperone to have your smear test? When I had my colposcopy and my implant and coil fittings there was a nurse whose role basically seemed to be to hold my hand and reassure me.

This is a copy of what my appointment text reminders look like

You have an appt at blah blah General Hospital on Mon 23 Aug at 14:45. Not attending costs NHS approx £150. Please call 01923 217012 to cancel/rearrange.

So yours seems pretty standard

It's totally legitimate, hospitals are now doing thins3/4 days before and again the day before an appointment, itsbtontry and cut down on missed appointments, do call the hospital, google the hospital if you feel uncomfortable using the number on the text ask for appointments department and they will clarify,
Is it a well known hospital in SW London as I do know they send texts

Sorry this has probably already been covered but I'd phone the main hospital switch board number on the number available on the internet and ask for our patient appointments give them your name and date of birth they will be able to tell you if you have an appointment and who with for what! If you do not have an appt then please report to the police as this is most likely a scam and there are many vulnerable adults out there who may be scammed xx

Completely normal text from a hospital.

My NHS trust sends out these texts too. It's probably meant for someone else.....

I get really unhelpful texts like this too. I once had one for the wrong clinic which wasn't held at the hospital anyway. I've rung up and tried to make sense of them. Now I ignore them sadly unless it confirms a letter. I've had a letter saying DNA even though I'd rung up!

Always google suspicious texts or calls.

We get these messages for legitimate appointments. With that exact wording. It would be very helpful if you called the hospital appointment line or the hospital easily found online. I know it is wasting your time, but there may be some poor person waiting for this appointment and not getting notified.

This happened to us. There was another child with my dd's exact name and I called the hospital after a strange letter. If I had not called, they were planning to discharge another prem baby for missing appointments. It turns out they had an admin issue.

I work in an NHS outpatients department, every month hundreds of patients either forget, or don't bother, to show up for appointments. Imagine how frustrating it is to sit and wait for a patient and no one shows, especially on a Saturday or Sunday. (Yes, we run outpatients clinics at the weekend, Jeremy is a lying Cunt when he says we do t have a 7-day NHS)

If you're dubious about the number on the text ring the main hospital appointments line, they can use your name & date of birth to check to see if you've got an appointment booked. Letters do go astray, so these texts are a really good way to make sure people attend.

I'd Google the number don't use the one on the text just incase it's a scam, and call and ask

OP

Phone main switchboard of hospital. If you have previously attended that hospital or have had anything written from them you will have a patient reference number. That would help track if you have been listed with appointment. Date of birth and address will also help. Dont phone number on text.

Our local hospital sometimes gives you an appointment at short notice for a cancellation, or even more rarely when extra hours have been sanctioned for the relevant department. When this happens it is not unusual to receive the text/automated call reminder before the letter.