Did Not Attend Policy

Please see below for our policy on not attending appointments. 

GP, nurse and phlebotomy appointments are in great demand, and as a practice we strive to be able to provide our patients with timely appointments and avoid long waiting lists. 

In 2019, Trumpington Street Medical Practice had 3969 missed appointments.  This works out at 76 missed appointments per week.  Whilst we understand circumstances change and things come up, we ask you to appreciate the cost of these wasted appointments to other patients who may be more vulnerable, but are forced to wait.

We are hoping with SMS reminders, the number of DNAs will reduce.  We still rely on patients phoning in to cancel their appointment if they are unable to attend and ask that every effort is made to do so.

In light of the significant numbers of missed appointments we have, we have implemented a ‘3 strikes’ policy. If a patient fails to attend a booked appointment (failing also to cancel the appointment) on 3 separate occasions, the practice will issue them with a warning letter.  Should missed appointments remain an issue after this, the practice will consider whether the patient should be removed from the practice list.

We are understanding of individual difficulties and circumstances and take this into account, however as we need to provide a good service to all of our patients in a timely manner, we ask that this policy be respected.

Trumpington Street Medical Practice: August 2020