Forgetting to cancel your unwanted GP appointment can prevent someone else from being seen. So if you can’t make it, cancel it – it’s as simple as that!

NHS England are currently working to reduce the number GP appointments that are missed and logged as DNAs (‘did not attend’). Missed appointments are one of the main factors which contribute to a strain on time and resource within the NHS, so reducing them is essential for both improving patients’ access to health services and reducing the demand for GP appointments.

In the last quarter (July – September 2024) there were 599 appointments that were not attended.

In the quarter prior to above (April – June 2024) there were 562 appointments that were not attended.

Research has found that the main reason for DNAs is because patients just simply forget about their appointments, so the aim of the ‘Don’t forget’ campaign is to encourage people to put practices in place to ensure they’ll remember their appointment, or to cancel it if they can no longer attend.

What We Want You To Do

There are three things you can do to help reduce DNAs:

• Cancel your appointment by giving your GP practice a call or by texting back on the appointment reminder ‘CANCEL’.
• Make sure all your details are up-to-date next time you visit your GP – that way they can send you text reminders.
• Put the date in the diary or an alert in your phone so you definitely won’t forget!