The #ODWOLUJE #NIEBLOKUJE campaign serves to make patients aware of the great importance of cancelling appointments early. Above all, it gives the other patient the opportunity to sign up for a consultation and get help. This approach to making appointments allows the implementation of zero waste in medicine.
The action began with a debate attended by health care representatives - from both the private and public sectors. They wondered why patients do not cancel appointments they cannot attend, and what can be done about it. Dr. Antonina Doroszewska - head of the Department of Medical Communication MUW - participated in the discussion.
The scale of the problem is truly gigantic! In the medical facilities involved in the campaign (10 partners), almost 570,000 patients have not appeared since the beginning of 2022. These figures refer only to those who did not inform about the absence. And yet there are those who, admittedly, cancel, but an hour or two before the appointment, so no one can use the released appointment anyway.
The reasons for not cancelling appointments range from fortuitous situations, signing up on the off chance, booking consultations in several places, fear of being examined, to forgetting the appointment. Patients who use the health care system but don't feel they are a part of it are also a problem - they don't feel they should inform medical facilities when they cancel an appointment. There is a lack of social responsibility for the health of others and an awareness that this translates into the availability of specialists.
So what can be done to increase this social responsibility. The key is patient education. It should start as early as the visit that precedes the next one. Both doctors and those in charge of registration should inform patients about how to prepare for an examination or consultation and how to cancel it if we are unable to attend. An interesting solution is the one already used by some medical entities to contact people who have missed an appointment to remind them of their duty and responsibility for the health of others.
More information on the #ODWOLUJE #NIEBLOKUJE social campaign is available at the website.
The campaign is organized by CMP Medical Center. The Ministry of Health and the National Health Fund have assumed honorary patronage of the campaign.