Reminder by text may be option

Dear Editor

The letter in last Friday’s edition of the Perthshire Advertiser entitled ‘Payment Proposal to Bridge NHS Funds Gap’ offers some interesting proposals to deal with the issue of missed GP appointments, but omits certain points which may have a bearing on the situation.

To my mind GP surgeries could improve uptake of appointments by the simple measure of texting/emailing the day before... after all, if hairdresser’s text to remind customers of appointments why can’t surgeries?

If necessary, this would act as an additional reminder for those patients who might have extra pressures and issues, which Mr McMillan appears not to acknowledge – those with mental and emotional illness, or memory issues for example.

The service could be offered to those individuals who either have a history of missing appointments, or who themselves would see it as a useful reminder in the middle of busy and often stressful lives.

While some might say this would ‘cause too much work for already hard pressed staff, why not ‘trial’ such an approach across a few different surgeries to see if it affects the numbers of missed appointments?

Yes, there will be some individuals who miss appointments because they do not appreciate their primary health care service, but their are many struggling who would appear if reminded.

Doreen Simpkins Beechwood Logiealmond