Patients are now booking appointments electronically at a place, date and time that is convenient to them. They no longer have to put their life on hold while they wait to hear back from a hospital, for when their appointment will be.

All NHS hospitals are now using Choose and Book, along with 88 per cent of all GP practices in England, who send around 15,070 referrals every day through the service. This represents 45 per cent of total NHS referral activity from GP surgeries to specialist care.

These numbers will continue to grow over the coming months as Choose and Book increasingly becomes the everyday referral method for the NHS.

Thousands of patients benefit from Choose and Book every day and are providing positive feedback. Sarah Payne, a patient from London, said: "What I like about Choose and Book is that it is so effortless and quick.

"It allows me to fit appointments in around my life, without taking unnecessary time off work and enables me to be seen as quickly as possible."

As more patients benefit from the electronic referral service, so too does the NHS. Choose and Book is helping deliver a more modern and efficient NHS by helping to reduce missed appointments and waiting times.

'Did Not Attend' (DNA) reduction

• Doncaster & Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has seen their average DNA rate drop by 60%.
• DNAs reduced by over a third at both Kettering General Hospitals NHS Trust and Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust when referrals were made through Choose and Book.

Waiting time reduction

Choose and Book is helping to measure and manage 18-weeks' pathways for patients.

At Kettering General Hospitals NHS Trust, when consultants use Choose and Book directly, there has been a reduction of nine working days from date of referral to the start of patient care.

Further details of these benefits can be read by downloading the Choose and Book case studies.

Notes to editors:

• Figures updated week ending Sunday 28 October 2007
• The five millionth referral represents clinical referrals that have been made by GPs and their support staff through Choose and Book for the convenience of the patient.
• Over 5.7 million bookings have been made using Choose and Book. This figure represents booked appointments and is greater than the number of total referrals, because patients have the opportunity to change, or re-arrange their booked appointment once the referral has been made. Bookings can be made directly at the GP practice, or by the patient calling 'The Appointments Line' or a local booking line, or over the internet.
• The use of Choose and Book in the NHS is increasing - it took two years to get to the first million referrals, but less than a year to add a further four million and reach the five million referrals milestone.