WARRINGTON and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has introduced an automated text appointment reminder service for patients with outpatient appointments at the hospitals.
For people whose mobile numbers the hospital have as part of your details they hold, you may now receive a text reminder in the days before your appointment with details of your appointment and its location.
The hospital hopes that the service will be a way that they can reduce the number of patients who do not attend their appointments. Around 1,300 appointments a day are provided in the outpatient departments across the hospital sites. However, almost 1 in every 10 patients doesn’t attend.
If you can’t make an outpatient appointment then the hospitals are asking if patients can please take a minute to just let them know in advance. Letting the hospitals know means that they can reschedule your appointment and maybe provide it to someone else. It also saves your hospitals money. Missed appointments cost the hospital over £1 million each year. Patients can let the hospital know by replying to the text or by using the appointment change form on the hospital website www.warringtonandhaltonhospitals.nhs.uk
Gordon Robinson, outpatient manager at Warrington and Halton Hospitals, said: “We hope the text reminder service will really help people and be a useful way of making sure that we keep them up to date. Patients missing their appointments cost the hospital money and also increase the length of time other people wait. All we ask is that you take a few minutes to let us know that you can’t make it and we will be able to offer your appointment to someone else.”
Patients can opt out of the text message service if they wish by emailing [email protected], replying to the text or by letting reception staff know at their next appointment.
Hospitals launch text reminder service
00 Comments
Share.
About Author
Gary Skentelbery
Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.
