Submitted by Mike Grenville on Thu, 23 Nov 2006 12:05

Following patient pressure and a successful pilot, appointment reminders and health information will soon be sent to patients by SMS at 22 surgeries across West London.

Ealing Primary Care Trust is rolling out GP appointment reminders and health information by text message to patients at 22 surgeries across the West London borough.

The roll out follows the success from two pilot projects in nearby Perivale and Northolt as well as requests from patients. Of the 360,00 patients registered with GPs in the borough, 130,000 have registered already for the service. About half of the 22 surgeries are using the system and the rest will be fully trained by the end of the year. The service is provided free to patients.

The service uses the iPLATO Patient Care Messaging system who claim that this is the largest deployment of integrated text messaging in British primary care to date. iPLATO’s platform is approved by the NHS from a security and confidentiality standpoint and works in conjunction with the patient administration systems already used by GPs throughout the borough.

Better Response

Practice administrators welcome the reduction in time (and cost) spent sending letters or making phone calls. At one of the pilot practices, the Hillview Surgery in Perivale, the system has led to a 30% drop in the number of patients who miss appointments. Imperial College in London estimates that text appointment reminders alone could save the NHS in England £240 million to £380 million.

Keith Martin, Service Development Manager at Ealing PCT, said: "Mobile patient services have proven that they are cost effective and scalable. We have a diverse population of 360,00 patients registered with GPs in the borough and many already use mobiles to run their daily lives. The system integrates seamlessly with existing systems used by GPs to book appointments and clinics.”