Cancel your appointment in time: 300 excuses a day keep the doctor away

A missed appointment is more than an empty chair in the waiting room. The slot cannot be offered to another patient in time, waiting lists grow longer, and the medical team is still ready and waiting. In 2024 almost a third of all booked appointments went unused.

The law requires patients to cancel at least ten days ahead. Anyone who does not is taken off the waiting list and can only book the same service again after three months. Our task was to get this across so that people actually cancel, without making them feel accused.

The communication plan set the tone: positive, concrete and empathetic, humorous in places, never accusing. Research shows that people think of themselves first, so the messages start with what a missed appointment means for the patient, and only then for others. Everyday phrases like "no panic" and "just let them know" lower resistance.

The plan names four audiences that, according to Ministry and National Institute of Public Health data, most often fail to cancel in time, and gives each its own channels. Content is organised as Hygiene, Hub and Hero: from basic information on every channel to regular posts and the central advertising campaign.

Every no-show comes with an excuse: no transport, it slipped my mind, there's a football match, my horoscope says it's not the right time. We wrote the excuses on sticky notes, each in a different hand, and stuck them over the doctor until the doctor disappeared. It makes visible how missed appointments shrink access to healthcare.

The slogan twists the old saying about an apple a day. The message stays friendly: every excuse is a good one, as long as it comes in time.

The call to action, "Tell them at least 10 days ahead.", is also the campaign logo. The handwriting recalls a doctor's note on a prescription, as if your doctor were reminding you in person, and the note you write yourself so you don't forget. "10 days" stands out in a box, like a highlight in a planner or a note on the fridge.

The visual identity sets out the lock-up with the Ministry logo, the colours, the primary typeface, and the handwriting of different people for the excuse notes.

We presented the first proposal to the Ministry in March 2025, with the communication plan, the concept and sample ads. By the autumn the idea had sharpened: the call to action became "Tell them at least 10 days ahead.", the slogan took its number from the Ministry's latest analysis, and we photographed a male and a female doctor for the ads.

The TV ad opens right up close to the doctor's eyes. The camera pulls back, hands stick on notes, voices read out excuses, until the notes cover the whole frame. Then they vanish and the call to action remains, with the ways to cancel. We shot two versions, with a male and a female doctor, each cut for television and for the web.

The radio ad tells the same story in sound: excuses over the rush of the city, a ticking clock, then the fact and a simple call to action. Social media posts carried the campaign on with quizzes, everyday excuses and a letter written to the patient by their own health.

The Ministry of Health launched the campaign on 23 October 2025. One idea, sticky notes full of excuses, carries every piece: from TV and radio ads to posters in waiting rooms, web banners and posts. Everywhere with the same simple call to action: tell them at least 10 days ahead.