Warwickshire hospitals pilot AI appointment scheduling tool

Volunteers at two NHS trusts in the Midlands are using an AI based scheduling tool in an effort to bring down waiting lists and tackle missed appointments.

George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust and South Warwickshire University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are trialling the use of DM Schedules, a web-based booking platform from software firm Deep Medical.

Under a six-month pilot, which began in April 2024, volunteers contact patients who the software has identified at risk of missing their appointments and either help them reschedule or offer additional support such as transport or someone to greet them at the hospital.

DM Schedules uses AI insights from anonymised patient data to predict the likelihood of a patient missing an appointment and sends personalised reminders to the patient.

It also enables trusts to create a backup booking system that automatically fills cancelled appointment slots with patients from a waiting list.

Interim results in July 2024, show an 33% increase in attendances and a 28.8% reduction in Did Not Attends (DNAs) across the two hospitals since the start of the pilot.

Jenni Northcote chief strategy, improvement and partnership officer at George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, said: “In this initiative our volunteers utilise intelligent data to contact individuals who may be struggling to attend appointments and understand the barriers they face in accessing care, or, if they no longer require an appointment, ensure it can be offered to other patients. 

“We have seen a fantastic reduction in DNAs and learned a lot about the issues people face in attending appointments, helping us to develop more patient focused services”.

Deep Medical is working on the pilot with Helpforce, which specialises in developing and evaluating volunteering services in health and care.

Mark Lever, chief executive at Helpforce said: “We’ve been supporting George Eliot Hospital to pilot and evaluate the impact of volunteers calling people ahead of appointments, and we know that has already reduced missed appointments.  

“With access to Deep Medical’s waiting list AI tool, this is set to significantly increase, with volunteers able to target calls to the people most likely to struggle to get to their appointment”.

Benyamin Deldar, cofounder of Deep Medical, said: “Deep Medical’s advanced AI helps tackle key barriers that prevent patients from attending appointments, such as the inability to afford hospital parking, limited access to rideshare apps, restricted communication outlets, and complex personal schedules.

“By addressing these issues, the AI ensures that patients have better access to the healthcare they need”.

Deep Medical is running pilots in 10 of the 42 integrated care systems in England.

It is also planned to be extended to 10 additional NHS trusts following a six-month pilot at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.