STEPPING Hill Hospital outpatients are about to start receiving appointment letters direct to their mobile phones.
The letters will be issued to all outpatients who have registered a mobile number with Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital and community services.
Currently. each year the trust sends more than 100,00 outpatient appointment letters by post, costing over one pound each time.
During 2017/18, 8.2 per cent of appointments were missed with an approximate cost of £160 for each missed outpatient appointment, despite reminders being sent.
Hospital chiefs hope that the new service will help to reduce the cost of sending appointment details to patients, and reduce the number of missed appointments, as well as making booking them easier.
If patients don't have a mobile phone, or their number isn't registered with the hospital, a paper appointment letter will still be issued in the post.
For paediatric patients, the child's parent or guardian will receive the letter on their behalf.
Gill Burrows, deputy medical director for Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, pictured, said: "There are a number of advantages to the new electronic letter system. It should be a lot more user friendly for patients, and we hope to see a real reduction n missed appointments.
"At the same time, those who still want paper letters will have that option as well. Reducing our use of paper letters will be a saving for the trust, and better for the environment too."
Patients who prefer to receive a postal appointment letter will still be able to opt out if they wish.