Millennials failing to turn up for GP

MILLENNIALS are 50 per cent more likely to miss GP appointments than those of their parents’ generation, research suggests.

Patients who fail to turn up are a huge drain on NHS resources, with 12million sessions missed every year at a cost of £160million.

The first major study examining attendance records of different groups found 16 to 30-year-olds are the most likely offenders.

They are 51 per cent more likely to miss their appointment than people aged 60 to 74, and 36 per cent more likely than 46 to 60-year-olds. Those aged 16 to 30 were second only to people in their 90s in terms of poor attendance.

The study, published in the Lancet Public Health journal, tracked the appointments of 500,000 patients in Scotland between 2013 and 2016. It found 46 per cent of patients missed at least one appointment, and 20 per cent missed more than two. Overall 12 per cent of appointments were missed.

The researchers, from the universities of Glasgow, Lancaster and Aberdeen, found social deprivation was linked to bad attendance, with poor people living in wealthy areas particularly likely not to turn up.

NHS bosses have trialled automated phone call reminders and text messages to eradicate the problem. Many groups have suggested fining those who do not turn up.

But Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said ‘this could disproportionally impact on the most vulnerable in society, and this new research backs this up’.