Léa Surugue asks why patients don’t show up to appointments and how to ensure greater attendance levels.
DNA, or “did not attend”: the note no clinician wants to record against a patient’s name. But, over the last decade, healthcare professionals have reported a growing number of missed appointments.
The proportion of attended appointments in the UK has declined from 79.8% in 2010-11 to 77% in 2020-21 (NHS Digital, 2021). There are public health repercussions – patients not receiving the follow-up they need – and economic ones, as they put financial strain both on hospital services and on private practices (Parsons et al, 2021).
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The main purpose of the bill is to abolish NHS England and centralise its services, creating single patient records where patient health information is available in one place.
The College of Optometrists has today launched a public consultation on the next edition of its Guidance for Professional Practice which will be open for the next six weeks until Monday 3 August 2026.