Did Not Attend Policy

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Why have a DNA policy?

A DNA ‘Did not attend’ means that the patient does not turn up for the appointment and does not contact the surgery with enough time in advance to cancel/change appointment.

A significant number of appointments per week are classified as ‘DNA’ (there were 5.25 hours of DNAs in the last week* and over 1200 DNAs in 2018, the equivalent of over 7 full days of missed clinical appointments).

The effect of DNAs is: 

• An increase in the waiting time for appointments 
• Frustration for both staff and patients 
• A waste of resources

By reducing the number of DNAs you should be able to: 

• Improve patient experiences with booking appointments 
• Enable more effective booking 
• Allow efficient running of clinics

Whilst we understand that the reason for the non-attendance is sometimes unavoidable, it is difficult for the Practice to make a judgement and the end result is always the same; a lost appointment that someone else could have used.

Thank you very much to those patients who do take the time to cancel their pre-booked appointments. 

How DNAs are recorded

DNA 1

If a patient fails to attend an appointment on one occasion, an informal warning letter will be sent to the patent. This letter will be sent to the patient by reception.

DNA 2

If the patient fails to attend another appointment within a 12 month period, a formal warning letter will be sent reminding them that should they miss another appointment they risk being removed from the practice list. Support will be put in place, if necessary, to help remind vulnerable patients about their appointments.

DNA 3

If the patient fails to attend 3 appointments within a 12 months period, this patient’s details will be brought to the senior GP’s attention and the senior GP will make a decision as to whether the patient is removed from the list.

NB: The computer system automatically marks the patient’s record with a DNA.