Did Not Attend (DNA)

When a patient fails to attend a pre-booked appointment and they do not contact the surgery in advance to cancel this is classed as “Did Not Attend” (DNA). The effects of this are:

• Increased waiting time for appointments
• Significant financial cost as resources stand idle. It is estimated each wasted 10-minute appointment costs £45.
• Frustration for both staff and patients
• A potential risk to the health of the patient

Policy

• Patients who DNA twice in a rolling 12 month period will be sent a reminder drawing their attention to the policy
• If there are 3 DNAs in a 12 month period the surgery will issue a final warning
• More than 3 DNAs in a 12 month period: The patient will face removal from the practice list unless there are mitigating circumstances.

Mitigation

Patients are asked to give the surgery at least one hour’s notice if they are unable to attend an appointment. Where this is done the surgery has a good chance of offering the appointment to another patient and it will not be counted as a DNA.

Regrettably, where there is less than an hour’s notice we will have to recorded a DNA in your record.

Any patient receiving a DNA message can appeal it by sending a PATCHs message to the surgery explaining the mitigating circumstances. Where successful the DNA record will be cancelled.