2 November 2010

Barts and The London NHS Trust is saving thousands of pounds a day through the introduction of a text messaging reminder service which has cut the number of patients failing to turn up to outpatient appointments by up to a third.

Half a million outpatients are seen by staff at the Trust’s three hospitals every year.

Patients now receive two text message reminders about their forthcoming appointment - the first a fortnight before and the second three days before.

If the appointment is no longer required or convenient and the patient would like to cancel or reschedule, they can text back saying so and a member of the Central Appointments team will contact them.

Greg Bird, Deputy General Manager of Outpatient Services, said:  “By encouraging patients to let us know if appointments are not convenient, we can rearrange them and also use the now vacant appointment slot for another patient who is waiting to be seen.

“Our patients tell us that they really appreciate the service, saying it helps them to remember they’ve got appointments coming up and stops them from missing them.

“There is no doubt that this new system is saving us thousands of pounds a day.”

Up to 2000 text reminders are now being sent each day since the system was launched in August this year.

There has been an average response rate of 10% from patients wishing to cancel or reschedule their appointments.

It has meant a drop in the number of patients who fail to turn up of up to 35% in some clinics, compared to the same time last year.

Once set up, all text reminders are sent automatically, and any patient responses are received as an email, again saving time and making things simpler for hospital staff.

Contact: Angela Boon 020 7480 4843

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Notes for editors

• Barts and The London is one of Britain’s top teaching hospital trusts. 
• Our world-renowned hospitals – St Bartholomew’s (Barts) in the City, The Royal London in Whitechapel and The London Chest in Bethnal Green – have made and continue to make an outstanding contribution to modern medicine. Read more about our full portfolio of services at www.bartsandthelondon.nhs.uk 
• Our £1 billion new hospitals programme is already transforming healthcare facilities locally. When completed the new hospital at The Royal London will be the biggest new hospital in the country, while the new buildings at Barts already house a brand-new cancer hospital with a cardiac centre scheduled to open in 2014.
• More than a million and a half of NHS outpatient appointments are missed in England every year. (Source:  NHS Information Centre)

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