Bassetlaw residents urged to attend scheduled hospital appointments

The hospital Trust, which runs Bassetlaw Hospital, Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Mexborough Montagu Hospital, are taking proactive steps to improve patient care and reduce the number of missed appointments.

In an effort to enhance the overall healthcare experience for the local community, the Trust is calling on all patients to let the hospital know if they cannot attend their appointment, so this can be offered to another patient.

Missed appointments occur patients do not attend an appointment and don’t let the Trust know in advance, this means the appointment slot cannot be used for another patient.

In August alone, over 3,800 appointments were missed, this equates to around 10% of all scheduled appointments.

Denise Smith, Chief Operating Officer at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals, said: “We are committed to ensuring that every patient receives timely access to the care they need. We understand that sometimes the appointment time we offer is not convenient, if patients let us know we can offer this to someone else. If you’re not able to attend, please let us know so that appointment slot doesn’t go to waste.”

The Trust provides an appointment reminder service via text message and via the DrDoctor app. It’s important that we have up to date contact information for you to patients so that they can receive these reminders. If you need to update your phone number or your address on your records you can do so by emailing [email protected] or by calling 01302 642500. Alternatively, you can speak with the receptionist when you next visit the hospital.

Most appointments can be rescheduled by contacting the booking team using the contact details on your appointment letter or by downloading the DrDoctor app and requesting an alternative appointment. If your appointment is for a medical imaging service (X-Ray, Ultrasound, CT/MRI scan or DSA), the DrDoctor app is not available at this time but you can call the number on your appointment letter to change or reschedule.

Attending your scheduled appointments is one of the ways you can support your hospital to reduce waiting list times.