How to Cancel an Appointment

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GP appointment? Don't need it? Cancel it!

We know people forget things, cancelling GP appointments being one of them. Remember to cancel your appointment if you don't need it.

Missed Appointments and DNA’s

Do you feel frustrated when you cannot get an appointment?

Every year wasted appointments cost NHS £162 million. This can cause serious delays in treatment for other patients. On average approximately 150 patients each month Did Not Attend (DNA) their appointment. This means the patient did not turn up for the appointment and did not contact the surgery in advance to cancel or change the appointment. This currently results in approximately 40 hours of wasted clinical time each month.

Please call ahead if you think you might be late or no longer want your appointment.

How to Cancel an Appointment

If you are not able to keep your appointment please call and cancel as soon as possible: someone else may need to see the doctor urgently. All our phone numbers can be found in the footer of this website. 

Alternatively you can cancel your appointment online using SystmOnline or The NHS App if you are signed up to the service. 

Please remember that there may be a shortage of appointments and when you fail to attend you have prevented someone else from being seen in your place. 

Cancellations notified less than 30 minutes before the appointment time will be recorded as failure to attend (DNA).

Repeated failure to attend booked appointments is a significant waste of NHS resources