What is a DNA?
A DNA occurs when an appointment is not attended and the patient has not contacted the Practice in advance to cancel it or where the cancellation is so late as to make it impossible to allocate that time to another patient who needs treatment.
Missed consultations cause a significant strain on the NHS. The loss of this clinical time has a detrimental effect on the service that we provide to patients and we wish to keep this to a minimum.
We understand that there are situations that can make it impossible for you to cancel your consultation, for example being admitted to hospital.
Our DNA policy
- If you fail to attend 2 or more consultations in the previous month, you will receive an initial warning letter.
- If you have received an initial warning letter and go on to miss a further consultation, you will receive a second warning letter. This letter will advise you that you can only book consultations on the day, and not in advance.
- If you continue to miss consultations, we will invite you to discuss a patient contract and an appointment plan. This will include you calling to confirm an appointment, otherwise it will be cancelled.
Cancelling Appointments
To avoid DNA appointments, you can use the NHS app or online services to cancel your consultations. You can also get a text reminder for your consultation, and you can reply to this to cancel if necessary. You can also cancel your appointment using:
Please make sure we have your up to date contact details, specifically your mobile number.