Text reminders for out-patient appointments in Hywel Dda
Hywel Dda Health Board is testing a new text messaging reminder service to help tackle the problem of people not attending outpatient appointments. On average 24,000 appointments are lost year – that’s 6 per cent of total activity – because patients failed to attend appointments which had been arranged for them. Each appointment slot missed not only means that it costs the hospital money in terms of the time the medical staff loose, but more importantly, it means that the slot cannot be offered to another patient. The text messaging service will be used to remind patients of their outpatient appointment, with consent being sought from the patient when they initially phone to book their appointment. Patients will be given the opportunity to request their reminder messages in either Welsh or English. Two text messages will be sent out – the first five days before the appointment and again 24-hours before the appointment. The text messages will not contain confidential information and a s...