Unused hospital appointments

That's appalling. It's bad enough that they sold off the appointment system but then it doesn't work so costs the NHS even more.

The admin behind most of these places is appalling. Follow up letters arrive months after a consultation. The treatment side is fine, usually, but behind the scenes could do with a shake up.

The text message thing happened to me. I got a reminder for an appointment at a hospital, I don't usually attend. as I have several consultants, I had to phone around trying to work out what it was for.
When I eventually tracked down the correct department , I was was told the letter hadn't even been sent yet .

I am very lucky then - I have an appointment this afternoon to see a consultant at the eye clinic. The appointment letter came about three days after my last visit back in September. Just before Christmas I had a recorded message on my mobile reminding me of the appointment and asking if I would be attending.

This creeping privatisation of the NHS seems to be undoing the system rather than fulfilling the great promise of efficiency. Luckily here its all in house and very efficient.

My DH got his appointment letter a week after his appointment date ( no text message either ) and was then told as he had not attended he has been discharged .He was told he had to back to the GP and get re- referred. I wonder if this is to "cook the books" over the 18 weeks waiting time targets ...
On the other hand at the wonderful Moorfields that I attend,I get my next appointment letter and a summary letter to take to my GP and the end of each consultation, dictated at the time by the doctor . Also get text reminders .

I myself have had trouble with texts! I had three appts in a week, and had about 20 texts reminding me! I had not given the hospital my mobile number.
I finally said I didn't want texts at all and could I have letters, which have worked so far.

But to back up what others are saying, I've just received a request from a local online group I belong to, for some one to deliver a letter with appt details in, to Wokingham, 25 miles away, tomorrow, as they don't trust the post to get it there. People obviously on holiday!

The system is antiquated and inefficient. Why on earth they can't use email for people who have it, I don't understand.

Not long ago Dh was told by letter to go to the wrong hospital for a minor procedure appt! Luckily he still had the letter, so nobody could accuse him of wasting NHS time/money.

And I have heard several times of people with dementia being sent appt. letters directly, despite relatives repeatedly telling hospital staff NOT to, but to send to them instead, since the person with dementia will forget about it, hide or destroy the letter etc.
Should imagine this accounts for quite a few missed appts. This can and dos happen even when the relatives have power of attorney for health and welfare - staff just do not listen, and so many don't understand the practical realities of dementia anyway.

I have had the same no notifications of hospital appointments !!!
The first time it happened I thought the letter must have got lost in the post ,but then found out no letters are sent .
How on earth can this make sense ?

So far for all our appointments and there have been many in the last 8months we've been well and accurately informed both by letter text and for urgent ones arranged by them ringing us and confirming by text. It's worked well for us sorry some of you've had lesser success.

I’ve just had a follow up letter twenty three months later!

This sounds as if the NHS is slowly, stealthily being privatised! All the time we hear that this or that service is now run by a private company. Soon there will be no NHS as it was meant to be.

I live in Scotland - up here they do seem to do a fair job of getting letters out and they used to give patients a choice for text or email reminders. I have a mobile I rarely turn on and a few years ago I asked for email reminders instead of texts. So, it's been a letter to advise an appointment has been booked then an email reminder 24-48 hours before, and it's worked nicely for me.

Until mid-2017. Enclosed with my July dental check booking letter was a slip to be filled out and brought in, asking for confirmation of current details including email. The dental practice has moved to email for all correspondence to save on post and text costs. It works for me (I check my inbox several times a day. And night, lol) but I wonder if it will work for all.

Jeremy Hunt wrote a book a few years back about the benefits of a private health system and this seems to be his goal. The sooner we get rid of this government the better. Waiting for a knee replacement at the moment and I had to chase every appointment and not everyone owns a phone, I certainly don’t having lost or ruined so many I now don’t bother with ine

My husband had quite a few important cardiac outpatient appointments last year. We received a cancellation letter for an appointment we knew nothing about - when we went in to check we found he had an unknown "new" urgent cardiac appointment during the same week. I think our local appointment letters are done centrally for the whole area, a hopelessly inefficient system for which we are all paying.

I get charged £35 for a missed appointment in Sweden.

My health authority does a lot online these days so some appointments can be made/cancelled/rebooked using the Health Authority's internet site. I can also access most of my patient records online.

Some clinics still use paper letters. I used to have a lot of trouble with orthopaedics who often sent their letters 2nd class less than a week before - no easy when dh has to take leave to take me.

This is an admin problem, which hospitals really do need to sort. My husband got home from a hospital appointment, during which he was 'told off' for being late, to find the letter which had been posted the day before, requesting that he attend 2 hours earlier for 'tests'. Given that his original appointment was for 10.00 a.m., our local hospital is a couple of hours away and our post arrived around lunchtime, that would have been difficult.

witzend re appointments being sent to people with dementia, when the relatives have asked for the appointments to be sent to them.

It’s actually really difficult, because of breach of confidentiality and data protection laws.
Unless the relatives have power of attorney, hospital departments can’t just take the relatives’ word for it that the patient wants the appointment to be sent to them.
You could argue that the hospital should be acting in the patient’s best interests, but these are sometimes overridden by the need to comply with the law.

Unfortunately this does not surprise me. When you put profit and health care together this is the result. Take a look on the internet and see just how much of our beloved NHS has been privatised by this Conservative government.. Not the unfashionable, needy parts, not sufficient profit. We are going down the road of the Americans and wow betide us all when that happens. When a relative of mine went into premature labour the bill for 10 days was $125,000. Watch this space and complain to the CEO, your MP and anyone else who will listen.

Totally agree patticake. Services are increasingly privatised, oh so quietly, virgin franchises being very heavily involved. private companies require profit, which is not reinvested in nhs, staff are squeezed not replaced and are demoralised until ‘they’ can decide that the nhs is no longer working and a new system has to be devised, probably similar to USA.

I'd second Patticake's advice. Write to your MP. MPs must write to the SoS for Health (JH) for a response. Use pester power.

Whilst I agree that creeping privatisation is a (not too well) hidden agenda, another factor, I feel, is the woeful lack of proper management and training of hospital admin services. They are surely the poor relation, with some healthcare professionals having the attitude of 'anyone can do that'.

Until that changes, I fear that hospital admin will remain in a dire state.

Hospital appoinment letter is followed up by another confirming the date and asking you to let them know if you wont be able to make it or now dont need it.Quite sensible I think as people get appointments that are a couple of months ahead and may not need the appointment nearer the time.My dentist also does e-mail appointment reminders

I now have in my area a health centre attached to the local doctors surgery and with its own pharmacy. Dreading having to keep an out patient apt at a major city hospital miles from where I live ,with ott parking charges I was relieved to receive an apt at the health centre with the consultant who was to do the tests that I was expecting at the major hospital.I was told they are using a post code system for out patients in these health centres which will reduce pressure on major hospitals. This saved me time and money as well as the stress of city traffic and I had received a phone call with my apt and back up by letter.

Most of the follow up letters are typed in India, hence the delay.