New i-phone app to help patients keep appointments
November 23, 2010
Posted by:Catherine Bell
A new i-phone application could help save the NHS money and avoid unnecessary delays in diagnosis.
The new application launched earlier this week sends patients reminders of upcoming appointments and allows them to rate the care they receive.
According to recent statistics missed appointments cost the NHS more than £600 million a year. By way of comparison, this is considerably more than the total amount spent on legal costs and/or paid out in medical negligence compensation to successful claimants last year. Aside from the high cost to the NHS at a time of austerity and spending cuts, missed appointments can reduce the chances of identifying serious health problems. By missing appointments patients can contribute to delays in diagnosis and reduce the opportunity for prompt and effective treatment. From a medical perspective, doctors need to ensure that patients understand the appointments system, the importance of attending and the consequences of missing an appointment, but from a legal perspective patients themselves need to be wary of the potential consequences should they later find themselves bringing a claim for medical negligence.