Missed Appointment Policy

A Non Attendance (DNA – Did Not Attend) is when the patient does not attend an appointment at the practice.

It is practice policy to remove a patient from the practice list if they have failed to attend appointments on numerous occasions. The amount of missed appointments before the warning process will be initiated is;

– 3 consecutive missed appointments OR

– 3 missed appointments within a 12 month period

When the above criteria has been met, the patient will be sent a warning letter to advise them that a further missed appointment will result in the patient being considered for removal from the practice list.

After a further missed appointment within a 12 month period, a GP Partner will be made aware that the patient is being considered for removal. If there are no medical reasons for the missed appointments and the GP sees fit, the patient will be sent a letter advising them to find a new practice within 30 days.

The practice will write to NHS England and ask them to initiate the removal process and including the letters that the practice has sent to the patient. NHS England will automatically deduct the patient after 7 days.

Vulnerable Adults

If a patient that falls under the above criteria for 3 missed appointments and is on the Learning Disability Register or the Mental Health Register, they will still be sent a gentle warning letter. If there are any further missed appointments the Mental Health Lead Nurse or GP will be made aware and will contact the patient or their support worker/carer in the first instance to determine if any additional support is needed.

Re-Registration

Patients will not be able to re-register a patient for 12 months following the date they were removed for non-attendance.