Trust cancels record number of outpatient appointments
A LEICESTERSHIRE hospital trust cancelled nearly one in five outpatient appointments last year - the highest rate on record.
While cancelled appointments are likely to be rescheduled, they mean patients potentially facing a longer wait for treatment.
University Hospitals Of Leicester NHS Trust cancelled 309,500 outpatient appointments in 2018/19, or 18.6% of all appointments booked. The number cancelled was up from 259,520 in 2017/18, or 16.5% of all appointments booked last year.
It was also more than double the 145,491 hospital cancellations recorded in 2006/07, when figures began.
A further 197,150 appointments - or 11.9% - were cancelled by the patient.
Overall - after taking into account cancellations, patients not attending and appointments missed for unknown reasons - less than two-thirds (64.6%) of outpatient appointments booked at University Hospitals Of Leicester Nhs Trust went ahead last year, down from 65.8% in 2016/17.
This was the lowest proportion of booked appointments attended since records began.
Across England, there were 123.4 million outpatient appointments in 2018/19, of which 96.4 million were attended by patients.
This means 78.2% of booked appointments were attended, the lowest proportion since records began in 2006/07.
Nationally, cancellations by hospitals were at record levels in 2018/19, and were largely responsible for the growing number of outpatient appointments not going ahead.
Patients are much less likely to just not turn up for appointments - the proportion of not attended appointments dropped from 8.4% to 6.4% over the period.
Instead they are more likely to cancel their appointment - up from 4.2% to 7.1%.
An NHS spokesperson said it recognises cancelled appointments can be inconvenient if it happens to you or a loved one.
They said: “That’s why the NHS Long Term Plan sets out how we will deliver an increasing amount of routine care in a way that’s more convenient for patients, and reduces pressure on hospital teams.”