Patients are sent text reminders

Patients will get a reminder three days before their appointment

Patients are being reminded of their hospital appointments by text message to cut the number of missed check-ups.

Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust is trying to reduce the number of patients who do not attend appointments to save money.

Automated text or voice messages will be left on a patient's phone three days before their appointment.

The trust, covering Neath, Port Talbot, Bridgend and the western Vale of Glamorgan, said 28,000 patients missed appointments each year, costing £2m.

The trust said a trial scheme had been successfully carried out and the service would being rolled out across its area, where 30% of patients who missed appointments had forgotten.

Julie Morse, Bro Morgannwg's head of performance improvement, said: "Appointment Reminder is an innovative new service for our patients which is already proving popular.

"It provides an opportunity for us to help patients and for them to help us in return by preventing wasted resources in terms of the valuable time of doctors, nurses and other staff working in the trust's hospitals.

"However, it is still important that patients that are genuinely unable to attend to let the outpatient department know as soon as possible so that the appointment slot can be offered to another patient."

Trust chairman Win Griffiths said: "By using this system we hope to benefit patients by giving them a reminder before their appointment is due.

"We believe the 'do not attend' rate will be reduced, making the most efficient use of health service resources."

The scheme is already in use in some other trusts around the UK.