DNA (did not attend)
dee-en-AY /ˌdiː en ˈeɪ/
Formal Neutral
What it really means
What surgeries call it when a patient misses an appointment without cancelling. It wastes NHS time, and patients who repeatedly DNA can be removed from a practice list.
Chinese explanation
指病人没有取消也没有到场（did not attend）。这会浪费NHS资源，多次爽约的病人可能被诊所除名。
Example conversation
A: I forgot my appointment yesterday.
B: Call the surgery and apologise — it\'ll be marked as a DNA otherwise.
A：我昨天忘了去赴约。
B：给诊所打个电话道个歉，不然会被记为爽约。
What you could say back
No spoken reply needed for this one.
Related phrases
Official sources
Rules and amounts change — confirm important details with the official source.
Go deeper
All Healthcare & NHS
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· Last checked 24 July 2026 · Report a mistake