The Did Not Attend (DNA) project in Dorset aims to understand what causes people to miss healthcare appointments and what we can do about it in Dorset.<\/p>\n
W<\/span>hat cause<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0people to miss health<\/span>car<\/span>e appointments and what we can do about it in Dorset?<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\nThanks to funding from NHS Charities Together<\/a> via Dorset County Hospital Charity<\/a> in association with Dorset Community Foundation<\/a>, Public Health Dorset (PHD)<\/a> worked with Community Action Network<\/a> on a project to collect community insights into:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n- The barriers and drivers that prevent people from attending healthcare appointments (recorded as \u2018Did Not Attend\u2019 or DNAs in NHS systems).<\/span><\/li>\n
- What people think can be done to address those barriers.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This is important because access to healthcare is a key driver of health inequalities and the unfair, avoidable differences in health that exist between different groups of people. Missed healthcare appointments contribute to this and working to reduce them can form part of our approach to tackling health inequalities in Dorset. You can read CAN’s summary of all the project findings here.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nWhy did we do this project?<\/strong><\/h4>\nRegularly missing NHS appointments can lead to poorer health outcomes, as individuals may not receive the necessary support at critical times. <\/span>It’s<\/span> essential for patients to attend their scheduled appointments to ensure they get the care and advice they need to <\/span>maintain<\/span> or improve their health.<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHowever, we know that the reasons people miss appointments can be complex and, for some people, attending their appointment is more challenging than it is for others;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>- <\/i><\/span>\n
Perhaps transport is difficult for them;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>
- <\/i><\/span>\n
They have caring responsibilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>- <\/i><\/span>\n
Maybe their mental health makes it difficult for them to get to their appointment.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li><\/ul>
This project set out to build a better understanding of who in Dorset is more likely to miss their healthcare appointments, the barriers and challenges they face that cause them to do so and what they think can be done to address those barriers.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
Who did we work with?<\/h4>\n<\/div>Christchurch Community Partnership<\/h4><\/a><\/li>
CoCreate Dorset CiC<\/h4><\/a><\/li>
Home-Start Wessex<\/h4><\/a><\/li>
Nigerian Community Dorset<\/h4><\/a><\/li>
Poole Communities Trust<\/h4><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>Christchurch Community Partnership<\/h4><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/03\/ccp-1-284x300.png\")
Christchurch Community Partnership<\/a>\u00a0worked<\/span>\u00a0with the BU PIER (Public Involvement in Education & Research) Partnership using their community researcher model to upskill volunteers to enable them to\u00a0<\/span>facilitate<\/span>\u00a0and lead engagement activities with older people\u00a0<\/span>with\u00a0<\/span>poor mental ill health and\/or mobility issues. <\/span>Click here to request the report.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>CoCreate Dorset CiC<\/h4><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/03\/cocreate-300x278.png\")
CoCreate Dorset CiC<\/a>\u00a0worked<\/span>\u00a0with individuals in Bournemouth, Christchurch,\u00a0<\/span>Poole<\/span> and Weymouth with poor mental ill health through Forum Theatre, a structured performance method that encourages active problem-solving. <\/span>Click here to request the report.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>Home-Start Wessex<\/h4><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/03\/home-start-wessex-300x279.jpg\")
Home-Start Wessex<\/a>\u00a0volunteers\u00a0<\/span>lead<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>facilita<\/span>ted<\/span> engagement activities with families with young children including families affected by poverty. <\/span>Click here to request the report.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>Nigerian Community Dorset<\/h4><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/03\/ncd-300x226.png\")
Nigerian Community Dorset<\/a>\u00a0engaged<\/span>\u00a0with\u00a0<\/span>people of\u00a0<\/span>blac<\/span>k ethnicity<\/span>\u00a0some of through focus groups and one-to-one engagement activities\u00a0<\/span>supported\u00a0<\/span>by<\/span>\u00a0BU<\/span> student volunteers. <\/span>Click here to request the report.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>Poole Communities Trust<\/h4><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/03\/PCT-298x300.png\")
Poole Communities Trust<\/a>\u00a0used<\/span>\u00a0creativity to stimulate conversation and engagement from the communities of Bournemouth, Branksome and\u00a0<\/span>Turlin<\/span>\u00a0Moor<\/span>. They\u00a0<\/span>work<\/span>ed<\/span>\u00a0with a local illustrator to create\u00a0<\/span>powerful imagery<\/span>\u00a0highlighting the barriers and challenges<\/span> they explored. <\/span><\/span>Click here to request the report.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271146%27%20height%3D%27502%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%201146%20502%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%271146%27%20height%3D%27502%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" "\\"banner\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8212","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8212"}],"version-history":[{"count":73,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10474,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8212\/revisions\/10474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- \n
- The barriers and drivers that prevent people from attending healthcare appointments (recorded as \u2018Did Not Attend\u2019 or DNAs in NHS systems).<\/span><\/li>\n
- What people think can be done to address those barriers.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This is important because access to healthcare is a key driver of health inequalities and the unfair, avoidable differences in health that exist between different groups of people. Missed healthcare appointments contribute to this and working to reduce them can form part of our approach to tackling health inequalities in Dorset. You can read CAN’s summary of all the project findings here.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
Why did we do this project?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Regularly missing NHS appointments can lead to poorer health outcomes, as individuals may not receive the necessary support at critical times. <\/span>It’s<\/span> essential for patients to attend their scheduled appointments to ensure they get the care and advice they need to <\/span>maintain<\/span> or improve their health.<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
However, we know that the reasons people miss appointments can be complex and, for some people, attending their appointment is more challenging than it is for others;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>
- <\/i><\/span>\n
Perhaps transport is difficult for them;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>
- <\/i><\/span>
\nThey have caring responsibilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>
- <\/i><\/span>
\nMaybe their mental health makes it difficult for them to get to their appointment.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li><\/ul>
This project set out to build a better understanding of who in Dorset is more likely to miss their healthcare appointments, the barriers and challenges they face that cause them to do so and what they think can be done to address those barriers.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
Who did we work with?<\/h4>\n<\/div>
Christchurch Community Partnership<\/h4><\/a><\/li>
CoCreate Dorset CiC<\/h4><\/a><\/li>
Home-Start Wessex<\/h4><\/a><\/li>
Nigerian Community Dorset<\/h4><\/a><\/li>
Poole Communities Trust<\/h4><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>
Christchurch Community Partnership<\/h4><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>
\n\nChristchurch Community Partnership<\/a>\u00a0worked<\/span>\u00a0with the BU PIER (Public Involvement in Education & Research) Partnership using their community researcher model to upskill volunteers to enable them to\u00a0<\/span>facilitate<\/span>\u00a0and lead engagement activities with older people\u00a0<\/span>with\u00a0<\/span>poor mental ill health and\/or mobility issues. <\/span>Click here to request the report.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>CoCreate Dorset CiC<\/h4><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>
\n\nCoCreate Dorset CiC<\/a>\u00a0worked<\/span>\u00a0with individuals in Bournemouth, Christchurch,\u00a0<\/span>Poole<\/span> and Weymouth with poor mental ill health through Forum Theatre, a structured performance method that encourages active problem-solving. <\/span>Click here to request the report.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>Home-Start Wessex<\/h4><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>
\n\nHome-Start Wessex<\/a>\u00a0volunteers\u00a0<\/span>lead<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>facilita<\/span>ted<\/span> engagement activities with families with young children including families affected by poverty. <\/span>Click here to request the report.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>Nigerian Community Dorset<\/h4><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>
\n\nNigerian Community Dorset<\/a>\u00a0engaged<\/span>\u00a0with\u00a0<\/span>people of\u00a0<\/span>blac<\/span>k ethnicity<\/span>\u00a0some of through focus groups and one-to-one engagement activities\u00a0<\/span>supported\u00a0<\/span>by<\/span>\u00a0BU<\/span> student volunteers. <\/span>Click here to request the report.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>Poole Communities Trust<\/h4><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>
\n\nPoole Communities Trust<\/a>\u00a0used<\/span>\u00a0creativity to stimulate conversation and engagement from the communities of Bournemouth, Branksome and\u00a0<\/span>Turlin<\/span>\u00a0Moor<\/span>. They\u00a0<\/span>work<\/span>ed<\/span>\u00a0with a local illustrator to create\u00a0<\/span>powerful imagery<\/span>\u00a0highlighting the barriers and challenges<\/span> they explored. <\/span><\/span>Click here to request the report.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
- <\/i><\/span>
- What people think can be done to address those barriers.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8212","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8212"}],"version-history":[{"count":73,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10474,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8212\/revisions\/10474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/inequalities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}