Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 July 2023
247. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Health if his Department has considered the introduction of a text messaging reminder service for HSE appointments; if he will agree that the degree of missed appointments is posing a strain to HSE services and resources; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34503/23]
View answerText messaging for reminding patients of upcoming appointments is already quite widely used across the health system and was, as the Deputy correctly point out, introduced as a mechanism to try and reduce missed appointments (DNA's / Did Not Attends). Deployment of text reminders has typically been driven by individual hospitals in areas where they felt it had the greatest potential. The HSE has also deployed a solution from Swiftqueue whereby people can book (within certain parameters) appointment dates and times that they know will work for them - again in an effort to modernise the health system and reduce the likelihood of a missed appointment. The HSE can provide more detail on what sites have deployed text reminders.
