Summer offers a unique window to cut Did Not Attend (DNA) rates because motivation is naturally higher, daylight hours are longer, and people are more open to change, so removing small points of friction in bookings, reminders, and communication can turn seasonal interest into lasting programme engagement.
Many coordinators expect DNA rates to rise over summer as holidays disrupt routines. But the opposite can happen when you design around how people actually live at this time of year. Longer evenings, better weather and more community events can make it easier for people to say yes to activity, as long as joining and attending feels simple.
Think about your scheme’s journey from referral to first session. How many steps are there? How many letters, calls or forms? Services that move from paper to digital often see the impact of making things simpler. When Parkwood Leisure’s Downham Health & Leisure Centre digitised its Steps to Health programme using ReferAll, initial assessment attendance rose from under 40% to 73% in four months by removing friction and making the next step clear.
Summer is a good time to test similar changes. Many participants want to be more active outdoors, are juggling childcare, or want to get their health back on track before autumn. Your job is not to create motivation from scratch. It is to stop it being lost between referral, booking and attendance.
Outdoor and family-friendly sessions can help. A walking group in the park near the leisure centre, a bring-a-friend circuit in a community space, or parent-child activity hours can all reduce the barrier of entering a gym for the first time. Pair these offers with clear, timely SMS and email messages, and a general summer campaign becomes a set of invitations that feel relevant to each person.
In short, summer does not have to mean more cancellations. With the right mix of service design, data and digital tools, it can be the season when you show your scheme can turn interest into regular attendance.
The biggest reason participants do not start or stick with a programme is often not motivation but friction: long waits, unclear next steps and missed messages. Focus on simple changes such as automated reminders, tailored SMS and clear referral status updates to keep momentum going.
From the participant’s point of view, the journey into a scheme can be confusing. Their GP made the referral, then a letter weeks later, then a phone call at an awkward time. By the time a slot becomes available, life has moved on. Every extra step increases the risk that they quietly drop away, even when they do want help.
Used well, automation can make a big difference. SMS reminders one or two days before an appointment can reduce DNAs, especially in summer when routines are less fixed. Coordinators also tell us that a simple follow-up text after a missed session, such as “We missed you today, here’s how to rebook”, helps people feel supported rather than judged.
Personalisation matters too. With a client management system that records attendance and preferences, you can send messages that feel specific: a motivational text after five sessions, a check-in when attendance starts to slip, or an invite to an outdoor session for people who prefer walking to the gym. Referral trigger events help you scale this kind of support without spending hours copying and pasting messages.
Another useful change is to reduce uncertainty around waiting lists. Summer often brings a rise in referrals from GPs and self-referrers who see the season as a fresh start. If all they hear is “you’re on the list”, enthusiasm can fade quickly. Instead, make sure every referral has a clear status in your system, and use bulk messaging to explain where people are in the process and what they can do while they wait, such as home exercises or local walking groups.
These changes may seem small, but together they can make a major difference. When Parkwood Leisure moved to a digital referral platform, admin time halved and staff could spend less time chasing paperwork and more time supporting people one to one. That shift was closely linked to better attendance and outcomes. The message is simple: operational excellence is central to engagement.
Your attendance, DNA and cancellation data already shows where summer engagement is slipping. By tracking it by scheme, venue and activity in ReferAll, you can spot issues early and test targeted fixes instead of relying on guesswork.
Every booking, attendance, cancellation and no-show creates a data point. On its own, that can feel abstract. But when the numbers are brought together in clear reports, they show where friction is building. Is one venue seeing more DNAs on Tuesday evenings? Are outdoor sessions doing well while a certain class struggles? That is insight you can act on straight away.
ReferAll’s built-in reports break down attendance by scheme, activity type and location. Over summer, it is worth reviewing this weekly rather than quarterly so you can spot patterns early. If DNA rates are rising for a specific group, you might add another reminder, change the session time, or test a more flexible drop-in format. Because the data updates quickly, you can often see within weeks whether the change is working.
Waiting-list data is just as useful. A long list with little movement is a clear friction point. If people wait months for a first contact, many will never get started. By tracking how quickly people move from referral to first appointment, you can make the case for more capacity, different triage rules or lower-intensity options during busy summer periods.
This is not only about improving your service. It is also about showing value to commissioners and healthcare partners. If you can show that a small operational change halved DNAs for one cohort, or that digital reminders supported a 30-point rise in assessment attendance, your scheme becomes an evidenced intervention rather than simply a well-meant local offer. Case studies such as the Active Blackpool's case study example are powerful because they combine real stories with hard numbers.
When you combine this insight with the human touch your teams already bring - warm welcomes, supportive conversations and thoughtful programme design - you create a summer offer that feels both personal and reliable. Participants get a smoother journey, staff spend more time doing what they do best, and commissioners see clear evidence that investment in digital tools can lead to better health outcomes.
Until next time,
Rach
Rachel Stokes | Head of Customer Success
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