Missed Appointments (Did Not Attend – DNA) Policy

At Aspiro Healthcare, we understand that there may be occasions when you are unable to attend an appointment. However, missed appointments reduce the number of appointments available to other patients and can also affect the continuity of your own care.

Our approach is intended to be supportive rather than punitive. We will always consider individual circumstances, additional needs and vulnerabilities before taking further action.

What is a missed appointment?

A Did Not Attend (DNA) is when a patient does not attend a booked appointment and has not cancelled it beforehand.

If you are unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can offer the appointment to another patient.

What happens if I miss an appointment?

We review missed appointments over a rolling 12-month period.

• First missed appointment: We will write to you to let you know that the appointment was missed and remind you about cancelling appointments you are unable to attend.
• Second missed appointment: We may contact you by telephone and will write to you again. We will discuss whether there is anything we can do to help you attend future appointments. You will also be advised that another missed appointment may result in a senior review.
• Third missed appointment: Your circumstances will be reviewed by a senior member of the practice team. Where appropriate, and after considering your individual circumstances, continued registration with the practice may be reviewed in line with NHS requirements.

Removal from the practice list will only ever be considered as a last resort.

We will consider your individual circumstances

We recognise that attending appointments may be more difficult for some patients. Before taking formal action, we will consider whether there are circumstances affecting your ability to attend, including:

• disabilities or long-term health conditions;
• learning disabilities or neurodiversity;
• mental health needs;
• pregnancy or the post-natal period;
• safeguarding concerns;
• caring responsibilities;
• communication or language needs; and
• other health or social circumstances that may affect attendance.

Where appropriate, we will work with you to consider reasonable adjustments or additional support. This may include appointment reminders, support with booking or alternative appointment arrangements where available.

If you are finding it difficult to attend your appointments, please speak to a member of our team so that we can understand how we may be able to support you.

Children and young people

Missed appointments for children and young people are considered differently.

For children under 16, we use a “Child Not Brought” approach. This recognises that responsibility for bringing a child to an appointment generally rests with their parent or carer.

We will consider the child's age, health needs, reason for the appointment, previous missed appointments and any known safeguarding concerns.

Where necessary, we may contact the parent or carer, involve an appropriate clinician or Safeguarding Lead, or liaise with other professionals involved in the child's care.

Young people aged 16 and 17 will be considered according to their individual circumstances, with additional support or safeguarding considerations where appropriate.

Safeguarding and vulnerable patients

A missed appointment can sometimes indicate that a patient needs additional support.

Where we have concerns about a child or vulnerable adult, we may take further steps to make contact and ensure their health and wellbeing are appropriately considered. Where necessary, this may include discussion with our Safeguarding Lead or appropriate information sharing with other health or safeguarding professionals.

Help us make appointments available to everyone

If you no longer need your appointment or cannot attend, please cancel it as soon as possible. Appointments which are not cancelled within 1 hour of the appointment time will be considered a DNA. 

Appointments can be cancelled or changed by contacting the practice on our dedicated cancellation line: 01332 523300 and selecting option 1 or by using our online services. You can also cancel or rearrange your appointment using the Rapid Health confirmation email.  

Cancelling your appointment allows us to offer it to another patient who may be waiting for care.

If there is a reason why you are finding it difficult to attend appointments, please talk to us. We will always consider how we can support you before taking further action.

Equality and reasonable adjustments

We are committed to ensuring that this policy is applied fairly and consistently. We will consider individual circumstances and make reasonable adjustments where appropriate to ensure patients are not disadvantaged because of a disability, health condition, communication need or other additional need.