No show at appointments is costing NHS Tayside
NHS Tayside faced an 8.8 per cent no show rate for appointments in 2016-17.
A total of 13,439 people missed appointments across Perth and Kinross, Dundee and Angus and politicians have hit out at those who they say are wasting the health board’s time.
This figure is slightly below the national average for missing appointments of 9.4 per cent.
A study from the Lancet Public Health Journal found that poorer patients living in affluent areas were the most likely to miss an appointment.
No-showers also tended to be aged 16 to 30, or older than 90, according to the researchers from Lancaster, Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities.
Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said:“Missed appointments are clearly placing a massive strain on NHS Tayside at a time when they can least afford it.
“Missed appointments have been an issue for quite some time and most will be astonished to learn that precious little progress has been made in the last 10 years in reducing this.
“According to these stats people don’t turn up around 10 per cent of the time, which is obviously costing the NHS a substantial amount of money.
“This Scottish Government needs to get a grip of this issue and that means investing in new and innovative ways to remind patients of their appointments, like email, WhatsApp and text message notification.
“There is also a moral case here, patients must be aware of the financial pressures that the NHS is operating under and do more to either cancel ahead of time or work harder to actually attend their appointment.” Liz Smith MSP