Did Not Attend (DNA) Policy

Background and Context

Training costs the NHS a substantial amount of money. Whilst we endeavour to run courses in the most cost-efficient way, DNA rates still have an impact on both the funding available and the number of places available to everyone. There continues to be a high DNA rate and there is a need to look at what we can put in place to reduce this and make best use of public funding.

The Policy

To reduce the incidence of people not attending training events, NWL Training Hub have initiated a DNA Policy. This will hopefully deter more people from simply not attending the training they were booked on to or will encourage them to cancel within a reasonable time frame so as to enable another person to attend in their place.

Therefore, the following principles will apply when booking a training course:

• All commissioned training events will be chargeable if you do not attend without 2 working days’ notice so would not include weekends.
  For example, if the course is running on a Monday, you would need to let the course organiser know by the Wednesday of your non-attendance, not the Friday.
• A good principle when booking a course is to ensure you have your Practice Managers approval and it is documented on your practice calendar so everyone is aware you will be away from the practice during the training. This reduces the chance of staff asking you to change your mind and work instead.
• If you do not provide your PM details, you will be personally liable for the cost of the course.
• If you do DNA, you will be invoiced by Hillingdon Confederation and asked to repay the cost of the course within an accepted time frame, usually 30 days of receiving the invoice.

To be reviewed January 2025