Booking for elective surgery and visits to specialists may soon become a duty for outpatients at Wairarapa Hospital in a bid to cut no-shows.
Cathie Morton, Wairarapa Hospital elective services and contracts manager, said the hospital has been working hard towards reducing the number of patients who Did Not Attend (DNA)
outpatient appointments, which will be developed further this year, and will possibly include the You Book system enabling patients to choose their own appointment times.
"Did Not Attends are a considerable problem in terms of wasting hospital time and resources, and for patients who miss the investigations and treatments they need," Ms Morton said.
In 2007 and 2008 603, or 8 per cent, of patients failed to attend their first specialist assessment and 871, or 7 per cent, of patients failed to attend follow-up visits, with each appointment costing from $180 to $330, she said.
"This represents a very large waste of resources," she said.
"Currently hospital staff put effort into contacting patients and reminding them of their upcoming appointments, particularly those patients who have not turned up previously, or who are booked to attend a clinic that often has a higher rate of no-shows.
"Some patients may require assistance to attend and we are able to inform them of community services and Maori health organisations that can assist greatly."
Aside from patients that do not attend appointments, she said, the present system of setting and informing patients of appointment times "can also be very costly in administration time".
"If the appointment is not suitable for some reason then many patients ask for them to be changed," she said.
"We are now looking into options for a more patient-focused booking system that enables patients to have more choice in their appointment time."
She said Wairarapa Hospital cannot yet offer patients access to an on-line booking system as happens in some British National Hospital Service trusts although "we are investigating the possible introduction of a system such as the You Book system that has started at Hutt Valley Hospital outpatients department".
Ms Morton said there "would always be people who require more support to enable them to use hospital services and Wairarapa District Health Board will continue to employ a range of solutions to ensure they are able to access the services they need".
