Ease, efficiency, excellence: automated appointment management delivers major benefits for the NHS
The OTTO pilot at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.
The estimated annual cost of patients failing to attend NHS appointments is currently a staggering £1 billion, with antiquated letter-based communication exacerbating a problem that diverts vital money and resources away from frontline care.
But now there's a solution: an intuitive technological platform that not only enhances patient choice, but has already proved it's possible to reduce missed (did not attend, or DNA) appointments by 45% and cancellations by 40%, and to do it almost overnight.
“OTTO is transforming the way patients interact with our services, improving their booking experience and helping us deliver care more efficiently and effectively.”
Understanding the challenges
UHL's cardiology department was running a 'fully booked' service, notifying patients of their appointment time by letter, sometimes 12 months in advance. Due to complex factors such as clashes with staff annual leave schedules, the system was incredibly unpredictable and unreliable, with some patients experiencing up to seven cancellations before they finally attended an appointment.
This led to extended waits and confusion, compounded by difficulties reaching the UHL appointment-booking service by phone to amend slots. The result was a significant increase in both DNAs and administration time spent managing continual changes to clinics.
The OTTO effect
OTTO worked seamlessly alongside UHL's existing booking team and internal systems, enabling a partial booking system. Over an 18-week period, it led to:
A critical part of a better NHS future
The NHS's 10-year plan identifies artificial intelligence as one of the five 'transformative' technologies that will underpin the next decade of healthcare.
An NHS England report shows that 5.6% of outpatient appointments booked in 2024/25 ended in a DNA, a monthly average of 650,000 unfilled slots. Among the most common reasons were misunderstandings over appointment times and dates, scheduling issues and administrative problems.
OTTO's proven AI platform is increasingly being trusted to address these challenges, helping to clear the path to a new era of healthcare with patient need truly at its heart. Following the trial's success, OTTO is now being rolled out at pace across multiple sites so the Trust can reap the rewards at scale.
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