Health bosses have announced they will no longer send reminder letters to patients for outpatient clinics.

They will receive their initial appointment letter - often sent more than a year in advance - and reminders will now be sent by mobile phone text message.

The text message system will cover all outpatient clinics held at both Noble’s Hospital and Ramsey and District Cottage Hospital.

To make signing up for that text reminder service easier there are now four different ways in which people can opt in.

Patients can select one of the following:

Call the dedicated number 651651 or email [email protected] providing their name, date of birth, mobile phone number, and confirmation that they wish to sign up to text alerts

Sign up at the main reception areas in Noble’s Hospital and Ramsey and District Cottage Hospital

Sign up during their next clinic appointment at either hospital.

The free text reminder service is optional.

Patients can opt in or out of the service as they wish. Patients signing up to the service will be sent a text reminder three days before an appointment with the time and date so that they have ample opportunity to ensure their attendance or to rearrange if needs be.

The DHSC says there is ’substantial evidence’ from the UK and further afield that shows that these reminders play a successful part in bringing down non-attendance rates at hospital clinics.

The island’s medical director Dr Jugnu Mahajan said: ’With understandable attention being paid to the cost and efficiency of the island’s health and social care services, it is imperative that we do all we can to keep expenditure under control.

’Not only is the cost of printing and posting reminder letters proving to be prohibitive, but missed appointments also waste both clinical time and money.

This extended text messaging service addresses both these concerns.

’As we continue to closely monitor the impact of the service I am confident that it will reduce the number of patients failing to turn up to their appointments. That improves performance and the service we offer patients.’

*There is an additional sign-up session for GP Patient Access, the free digital facility that allows people to make GP appointments and view their health information online.

The session will be held on Monday, April 10, at the Harvey Briggs Library, Onchan from 11.30am to 1pm.

Anyone who wishes to sign up for Patient Access must be over 16 and bring photographic ID.