Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The NHS could save tens of millions of pounds each year by sending text message to patients to remind them of hospital appointments.
Patients who are reminded in this way, or by phone, are 34 per cent less likely to miss an appointment than those who are not, according to a systematic review published in the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare.
More than 6.5 million outpatient appointments were missed in England last year, at a cost of more than £600m. The worst offenders were patients in their 20s, who accounted for 15 per cent of the total.
Hospital trusts miss out on payments of an average of £100 per missed appointment as they are only paid for patients they see. The review examined 33 studies from countries including the UK, US, Ireland and Australia, and found it cost less than 50p to send a text reminder.
The NHS has struggled with reducing the huge number of missed appointments for years, partly because the system was notoriously inflexible and appointments were booked too far in advance.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments