Visit attendance up from 42% to 81% in the first month at HMP Dovegate
HMP Dovegate fully digitised its social visits booking with Purple Visits. Families see live availability, book around their own schedules, pre-order cafe items and cancel in a tap, taking attendance of booked visits from 42% to 81% in the first month.
81%
Of booked visits attended in the first month live
42%
Attendance under the previous booking process
982
Family responses to our feedback survey
The Challenge
Before August 2024 social visits at HMP Dovegate ran on the traditional model: families called the prison during office hours to book, staff matched requests to capacity by hand and there was no simple way to cancel.
Between May and July 2024 only 42% of booked social visits were attended. The other 58% were no-shows, blocking slots for families who genuinely wanted to visit and leaving prisoners waiting in the visits hall for visits that never happened.
What We Did
In August 2024 Dovegate went live fully managing its social visits through Purple Visits, digitising the booking process end to end and strengthening security along the way. Families see live availability and request visits 24 hours a day around their own schedules, within the capacity the establishment sets, instead of calling the prison.
Cancelling takes a single tap in the app and reminder emails keep bookings current, so freed slots go back to families who want them. Visitors receive upfront information before they arrive, such as the code of conduct and dress code. The cafe ordering process was digitised at the same time, letting families pre-order refreshments for their visit and pay in the app.
Because every booking runs through the platform, Dovegate now gains family insights that were not possible before. Our all time feedback survey has gathered 982 responses from visiting families, giving the establishment a clear evidence base on the visit experience.
Dovegate also runs Video Link Booking, our booking platform for professional video links, giving courts, solicitors and probation the same self-service model for video link slots.
The Results
- Attendance of booked social visits rose from 42% to 81% in the first month live
- No-shows fell sharply, freeing capacity for families and ending wasted trips to the visits hall
- Families book and cancel around their own availability 24 hours a day
- Families pre-order and pay for cafe items in the app, with nearly 8 in 10 of those who used the feature rating it easy
- Family insights not otherwise possible without the booking system, drawn from 982 survey responses
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