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Intended for Healthcare Professionals
British Journal of General Practice

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Child not brought to appointment

Jeremy Gibson and Jenny Evennett
British Journal of General Practice 2017; 67 (662): 397. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp17X692285
Jeremy Gibson
Southern Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group. E-mail:
Roles: GP
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  • For correspondence: jeremy.gibson@nhs.net
Jenny Evennett
Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Roles: Paediatrician
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French et al’s paper highlighted that non-attendances at hospital paediatric clinics is associated with greater social deprivation and likelihood of a child protection alert in their hospital notes.1 We would like to make two suggestions. First, we feel that it is probably no longer appropriate to use the term ‘Did Not Attend’ (DNA) when describing a child’s non-attendance at clinic. Because it is not a child’s responsibility to attend clinic (it is their parent’s responsibility to take them), it would be more appropriate to say that the child was not brought to appointment. The Nottingham Safeguarding Children Board has developed a video to get this point across.2 This is not a new idea, but was proposed by Powell et al in 2012.3 Although it is a subtle difference, by coding non-attendance of children as ‘Child not brought to appointment’ (SystmOne: Xab0Q; EMIS: 9Nz1) we are emphasising potential failure on the part of those responsible for the child’s welfare.

Second, we also feel it is important for GPs to have policies and procedures in place that clarify what they should do if a child is not brought to a GP appointment. Such a non-attendance should not only be coded correctly but also trigger an appropriate response, perhaps a follow-up phone call from a receptionist or GP. Of course, hospitals should also have clear guidance on what action to take if a child is not brought.

  • © British Journal of General Practice 2017

REFERENCES

  1. 1.↵
    1. French LRM,
    2. Turner KM,
    3. Morley H,
    4. et al.
    (2017) Br J Gen Pract, Characteristics of children who do not attend their hospital appointments, and GPs’ response: a mixed methods study in primary and secondary care. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp17X691373.
  2. 2.↵
    1. Safeguarding Nottingham
    (2017) Rethinking ‘Did Not Attend’ www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAdNL6d4lpk&feature=youtu.be (accessed 8 Aug 2017).
  3. 3.↵
    1. Powell C,
    2. Appleton JV
    (2012) Children and young people’s missed health care appointments: reconceptualising ‘Did Not Attend’ to ‘Was Not Brought’ — a review of the evidence for practice. J Res Nurs 17(2):181–192.
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British Journal of General Practice: 67 (662)
British Journal of General Practice
Vol. 67, Issue 662
September 2017
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Child not brought to appointment
Jeremy Gibson, Jenny Evennett
British Journal of General Practice 2017; 67 (662): 397. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp17X692285

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Child not brought to appointment
Jeremy Gibson, Jenny Evennett
British Journal of General Practice 2017; 67 (662): 397. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp17X692285
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