A recent study conducted by DrDoctor, a patient engagement platform supplier, has uncovered the reasons behind missed hospital appointments that cost the NHS approximately £960 million annually.
The research, carried out by Censuswide between 9th September 2024 and 23rd September 2024, gathered insights from 5,003 UK adults who have missed at least one NHS hospital appointment in the last two years.
According to the study, the top three factors contributing to patients missing appointments, also known as DNAs, are travel-related issues (50% of respondents), appointment anxiety (42%), and workplace commitments (27%). In the previous year, eight million patients failed to attend their scheduled appointments, leading to a backlog of over seven million patients.
Tom Whicher, the CEO and founder of DrDoctor, highlighted the importance of reducing DNAs to alleviate the growing waitlist within the NHS. By understanding the challenges faced by patients, the implementation of AI technology in key areas has shown a 30% reduction in missed appointments.
The research also revealed that nearly half (46%) of patients who missed appointments continue to do so, while a significant number (33%) did not make it to their first hospital appointment despite expressing a desire to do so.
Furthermore, the study indicated that a substantial portion of patients (29%) struggled to rearrange appointments due to communication barriers, such as being unable to reach someone over the phone. Additionally, 19% found the process too complicated.
With over half of surveyed patients acknowledging the financial impact of missed appointments on the NHS, DrDoctor has introduced the Smart Centre – a suite of AI-driven solutions aimed at predicting and addressing potential DNAs to optimize hospital scheduling.
Whicher believes that personalized AI technology will provide trusts with tools to reduce missed appointments, tailored to their specific challenges and priorities, ultimately enhancing the efficiency of healthcare delivery.
DrDoctor’s patient engagement portal is currently utilized by more than 70 NHS trusts and health boards in England, including Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust.
