To think that if the NHS sends you an appointment for a significant surgical procedure, you turn up>

[XingMing]

DH has waited two years for a (complicated) day surgery on his heart. He turned up for it at 7 am this morning and of the six scheduled booked patients, two arrived. There was a surgical team of ten arranged, who stood around waiting. If this is the normal, and the doctors, surgeons and nurses seemed to think it was, then complaints about underfunding the nhs funding needs should be kicked backed to the public. It's reasonable to expect the treatment paid for via taxation, but it is unreasonable to be so cavalier about non attendance. This was a procedure that cost the NHS £20k or more in salary costs... and two-thirds of the list were no shows. Can you tell that I am incensed for the people on waiting lists and the taxpayers funding the waste? For the record, the roads were all clear.

And frankly, some 'carers' are abusive c*nts who let their partners / relatives down time and time again.

Some carers are ill and frail themselves.

Surgical patients used to be admitted to the ward the day before so that the surgical team had them in situ, prepped, ready to go. Now it's 'turn up at 7am and make sure you have someone to take you home again at a random time today or tomorrow to be decided'.

It's just too much for a lot of people who are old, frail, ill, medicated up to the eye balls, crap with basic tech, in abusive relationships and/or otherwise vulnerable. Short of bringing them in earlier, they need phone calls to check on them.

I have had a similar experience. A big part of the problem is NHS admin

Vast proportions of current NHS users don't use email. For my caseload it's probably about 10% that do.

I once got my appointment letter three days after I was meant to turn up 🤷🏻‍♀️ and right now the post is chaos.

I have had this happen too.

Tbh I wouldn’t be surprised if two had letters sent to the wrong address, one has a phone notification tomorrow for it and 3 spent hours and hours trying to notify people they couldn’t attend.

Because everyone thinks the admin can always be cut.

That's why I suggested phoning to check that the patient has received their letter.

Given the number of posts above about letters arriving late or not at all, it would be a cheap and practical solution to a very expensive DNA situation in some places.

I agree that letters often don't arrive or arrive just a day before the appointment. Obviously not saying this has happened with all these patients, but I am getting sick of the patient blaming rhetoric I'm seeing on MN at the moment. And yes, my first thought was many of these patients might have died in the meantime as I'm hearing of endless people getting appointments cancelled for the second or third time at the last minute.
If we are going to bring in charging patients for missed appointments, can patients also start charging the NHS for loss or earnings when they have appointments cancelled at the last minute? My experience of the NHS is appointments are always running behind schedule, so I would have thought they would appreciate the odd patient not turning up.

Not a procedure but my dh once got a snotty letter from her consultant about not turning up to an appointment. We never got an appointment for her. I imagine that would be classed as a DNA.
It is incredibly annoying if people aren't turning up to have procedures especially when so many other people, I for one, are waiting for.

My GP has a text reminder service which is brilliant. I'm not brilliant at writing down appointments so this is a godsend.

It makes me furious to think about NHS resources being wasted because of people not turning up. I wonder if a cash penalty would help. For example, to pay a nominal sum of £5 to make and confirm an appointment time, with it adding to a Google/ Hotmail calendar, could alleviate the forgetful no-shows? Or perhaps a £2k down payment for expensive heart surgery, refundable if the patient turns up, might improve the rates of showing up?

If you have to pay l, or guarantee with a card, a dinner or haircut reservation it makes you more mindful of putting a value on that appointment.. sad but true.

*dd not dh

Her using her personal mobile to send reminders is a massive GDPR breach - it's commendable she saw a decrease in DNAs but she's totally and utterly in the wrong to have done that.

Perhaps you should actually read some of the peer-reviewed research on causes of missed appointments before mouthing off from a position of breath-taking ignorance?

It's rarely a case of patients who CBA - but well done for playing into right wing narratives that blame patients for the failings of the NHS.

Did you read any of the inquiry reports into NHS maternity scandals? They found a culture of blaming patients when their babies were killed by the NHS's negligence instead of taking responsibility for the NHS's culpability.

Maybe consider whether that is the kind of poisonous culture you wish to participate in.

I remember a patient was DNA for surgery. Worse case was they could lose a leg, and they were due to be married weeks after the operation.
People are complex. Anxiety, and worry about complications/results can get in the way.
Is there much in the way of support for people who are very anxious about surgery?

DD had a letter cancelling her appointment and it arrived on the day of her afternoon appointment. We had rearranged it anyway. We then kept getting reminders to keep the cancelled appointment! There’s a lot of ineffective admin in the NHS.

@AutumnCrow we don't have any admin support for bookings (posts were cut). I have to send my own letters out (I'm band 7) and I don't have to time to phone everyone as well to try and ensure they are coming - well I could, but I'd see a lot less patients 🤷‍♀️

I DNAd an appointment today.

I came home at 6.30pm to find a letter (with a message printed on the outside about how much it costs the NHS if I don't show up for the appointment) saying I had an appointment at 10.15am. Even if I had known about it in advance, I can only get there by train and the letter was only dated last Wednesday, so I would never have been able to get time off at such short notice anyway, had it arrived on Friday and I'd been able to ask on Monday if I could have leave.

With people needing surgery, frankly, some of them could have died, never mind the many unable to get there by train.

I work for the NHS and we have patients not turn up for appointments even when they've been reminded by telephone the day before and confirmed they'd be there. I know sometimes things can't be avoided but the majority of missed appointments there is no excuse for.

I've missed quite a lot of appointments. The letters have arrived after the appointment, I've had to change it and they've not updated it on the system, or the appointment hasn't shown up on reminders and I've not been able to get through to check. Once I was sat in the hospital carpark queuing for a space and had been for about 40 mins at that point. I've never missed a private appointment because they have been booked at a time that suits me and the reminders have actually been sent.

Also you have ill people who struggle to remember appointments.

My family have a serious genetic illness from DP that affects my kids as well. At times I have had to take them to so many appointments that I have missed some. Even writing them down when they come in, it is hard to keep track of them at times.

I accept that there will sometimes be no shows out of apathy or laziness or whatever.

however it is about time the NHS was dragged into the 21st century. If they invested in efficient technology.

sending you a typed letter dictating when your surgery will be or appointment is utter nonsense and so behind the times. As the elderly die out appointments can be emailed and click a link to confirm you’ve seen it, then automatically added to a diary using outlook… it won’t go on to list all the technology available but I’ve never known anything like it.

I work in diagnostics in the NHS. We do CT, MRI and Ultrasound scans as well as xrays. We see in excess of 600 patients a day. 72hrs prior to a pre booked appointment patients get a text asking them to confirm attendance if they have not already done so (appt letter asks them to confirm appt). 24hrs before appt we call any patients that have not confirmed after letter and text asking them to. Every day at least 12 patients who have confirmed attendance don't turn up. I'm unsure what else we can do to make people turn up.

Just a few examples op.

1. I had a GP appointment which due to an emergency I couldn't keep. I spent an hour trying to get through by phone. I ended up hand delivering a letter at 6.3i0am on my way to work.

1. Many years ago at a 12 week scan, my baby was dead. Missed miscarriage. I checked after surgery that I didn't need to cancel my future appointments. I was assured not. The scan department phoned me at 20 weeks and were extremely rude because I had missed my 20 week scan. They didn't even apologised when I explained a mmc was diagnosed st the 12 week scan.

1. Quite recently my medication was changed. My consultant told me the next infusion appointm8ent would be cancelled automatically. Ten days before the apt I was told I needed a blood test beforehand. I explained my medication had been changed and not only had the consultant cancelled it, I had cancelled it three months previously to be sure. Two days later another nurse phoned me to tell me I wouldn’t need my forthcoming appointment because my medication had been changed.

It isn't necessarily due to the public. In equal measure it's due to inefficiency and incompetence in the system. Nobody in the system seems to give a damn. The issues don't seem to be due to the public or to resources to me.

Lots of people who go to hospital most can not do this.