NHS Tayside’s text reminder system has reduced the number of missed hospital appointments by nearly 15,000 in its first year.

Introduced in July 2018, the service sends information to patients giving details of the day, date, time and location of their appointment, encouraging them to contact the department if they can no longer attend.

Over 180,000 text reminders have been sent and the number of did not attends (DNAs) has reduced by 14,653.

Every week, over 1000 people miss their hospital appointment in NHS Tayside, with each failure to attend delaying treatment and increasing waiting times other patients.

Associate medical director for medicine Dr Robin Smith says he is very pleased with the new system that helps to ensure the “best use of our precious NHS resources”:

“We would urge people to get in contact with us as early as possible if they are unable to attend their appointment for any reason which allows us to rearrange a more suitable date and time for them and give the original appointment to someone else.

“…It would also be really helpful for us if people can make sure they keep their GP up-to-date with their correct phone number and address details.”

In October this year, the service was extended to include parents of children under 16 who attend paediatric and dental clinics, and parents of children under 12 who attend child and adolescent mental health clinics. 

Following the success of the service for outpatients, text reminders have also recently been introduced for the majority of planned procedures in Tayside.