Nearly 1 in 5 of people in the South East have missed an NHS appointment because they forgot or arrived too late, according to a new survey. 

The findings come as the NHS  launches a new campaign urging people to turn on ‘push alerts’ from the NHS App so they get reminders about appointments and can rearrange any they can’t make, helping to free up millions of appointments for others.  

The survey of patients across England found that in the South East 19% of people had missed an appointment because they forgot or arrived too late, while 11% said they no longer needed the appointment but didn’t cancel.  

The latest appointment statistics also show that patients did not attend over 2.4 million GP appointments throughout 2025 in the South East. 

App users are also being encouraged to cancel or rearrange their appointments through the app and to use it to request repeat prescriptions instead of having to visit their GP practice.  

Last year, the NHS rolled out a new Amazon-style prescription tracking feature in the NHS App which updates users on the progress of their prescription and when it is ready to be collected. It is currently available at 2,000 pharmacies across England.  

Dr Tim Caroe, Director of Primary Care Transformation in the South East, said: “We all lead busy lives, and it’s easy to double‑book ourselves, run into something unexpected, or simply forget an appointment. That’s where the NHS App really comes into its own. Turning on notifications gives you a gentle nudge when you’ve got something coming up, helping you stay on top of your schedule and your healthcare. And when fewer appointments are missed, it means clinicians can see more people each day, waiting lists move faster, and it’s easier for everyone to get the GP appointments they need. It’s a small change that makes a big difference across the whole system.” 

In the South East the NHS App has over 6.1million registered app users who are able to view their GP health record, order repeat prescriptions and access a range of NHS services to manage their own care.  

Throughout 2025, 417,623 people used the NHS App to book or cancel GP appointments, managing a total of 833,916 appointments and 1.78 million people ordered their repeat prescriptions through the App.  

Users can go to the settings section in the NHS App to enable notifications and update their contact details to make sure they receive important messages about their healthcare.