Thousands failtoshowfor appointments

New figures show that thousands of patients failed to attend numerous appointments at Lanarkshire hospitals.

The stats obtained under a Freedom of Information request show that across NHS Lanarkshire hospitals in 2015/16 a total 2616 patients missed five or more appointments.

In total across Scotland, there were 10,856 people who missed five or more appointments.

Judith Park, NHS Lanarkshire director of access, said that NHS Lanarkshire were attempting to clampdown on patients who miss appointments and send reminders in advance of the scheduled meeting.

She told the News: “We try to minimise the number of missed appointments by contacting patients by phone and text to remind them about their appointments and to advise them who they should contact if they need to cancel.

“They are also advised of the cost of the appointment.

“Patients can help to ensure our services run as efficiently as possible by telling us if they are unable to attend an appointment.

“This means we can offer their slot to another patient.

“Where a patient does not attend their accepted hospital appointment or admission date, they will be removed from the waiting list unless a clinician has indicated a further appointment is required.”