Your care your call

At Barts Health NHS trust, every appointment matters. Yet last year, 1 in 8 patients missed their outpatient appointments without letting us know. That meant hundreds of thousands of wasted slots, significant staff time lost and inefficiencies across both primary and secondary care. But, most importantly, vulnerable patients waiting longer for the care they need. 

In line with the national elective care access policy, those who miss two appointments may be discharged back to their GP, leading to greater workload pressures.

That’s why we have launched Your care, your call. The aim is simple: to help patients attend their appointments, or cancel and reschedule so we can offer the slot to someone else.

This campaign is about more than efficiency – it’s about improving patient experience and reducing the frustration of long waits.

What this means for you

In time we expect to see a reduction in DNAs and patients will be seen quicker, but we need your support to:

• Help us communicate our key messages to  your patients (please see FAQs attached)
• Put up the posters in your practices and signpost to our website for patients to change or cancel their appointments.

Thank you for your support, if you have any questions or feedback please feel free to get in touch with us at bartshealth.communications@nhs.net.   By working together, we can make every appointment count.