Press release – issued 12 March 2025
2025/002 

Hospital urges patients to phone if they cannot attend their appointment

Patients are being urged to phone if they can’t make their hospital appointment, so that an alternative date can be provided and their slot can be offered to another patient.

There have been more than 20,000 missed hospital outpatient appointments in the last year at Wye Valley NHS Trust, which could have been offered to help other patients.  Missed appointments also waste significant clinic time, including staffing and resources, and increase waiting times for others.   

Dr Andrew Milestone, Consultant Gastroenterologist at Wye Valley NHS Trust, said: “We understand that patients sometimes cannot attend their hospital appointments for reasons such as child care responsibilities, transport difficulties, or feeling unwell.  However, it’s important that patients do let us know, so that we can keep them on our list and offer the cancelled appointment to another patient who needs it.  Patients who miss their appointments without notifying the Trust may be returned to the care of the GP”.  

Patients who cannot make their appointment just need to call the phone number on their hospital letter or phone 01432 355444 and ask for the relevant department. 

Patients using Wye Valley NHS Trust’s services can also access their appointment information on a new portal, on-line platform, which allows them to access information about their healthcare from their mobile phones, laptops and tablets.  The portal is easy to access – the Trust has created a webpage which gives all the information about the portal and how to sign up - www.wyevalley.nhs.uk  (search patient portal).

The Trust is working hard behind the scenes to reduce the number of missed appointments and missed opportunities for other patients who are waiting to be seen.  Many of the departments provide text reminders and follow up calls to patients who missed their appointment to find out how the hospital can make it easier for those patients to attend. 

As part of this, the Trust is also asking patients to keep their contact details up to date, including telephone numbers (house and mobile phone numbers), email and home address.  If your contact details have changed, please contact the department on your letter, so that these details can be updated. 

Ends 

Notes to Editors WVT:

• Wye Valley NHS Trust is a provider of health services across Herefordshire and beyond. The Trust exists to improve the wellbeing, independence and health of the people we serve.
• By working closely with our partners, we can make good our promise to deliver a quality of care we would want for ourselves, our families and our friends.
• With an estimated annual turnover of around £295 million, we employ around 3,000 staff. We aim to build new relationships between our staff, patients, service users and their carers with the wider community. 

For further information please contact:

Fiona Gurney, communications officer, or John Burnett, Communication and Engagement Manager, Wye Valley NHS Trust: 01432 372928