Missed appointments cost £6m
NHS bosses say excuses are ‘running out’ for people who fail to turn up for their hospital appointments costing hospitals an ‘eyewatering’ £6 million.
Pennine Acute Hospitals trust, which manages both Fairfield General Hospital and Rochdale Infirmary has lost more than £6 million this year due to thousands of patients not turning up to appointments, figures show.
Data from NHS England shows that, between January and June, 52,013 people either did not show up for an outpatient appointment at the trust, or arrived too late to be seen.
Councillor Ann Stott JP, shadow portfolio holder for health and wellbeing on Rochdale Borough Council, described the cost as ‘eye-watering.’
She said: “It’s just unbelievable. I don’t think it was at such a level years ago. To my mind people are being ignorant. Of course there will be last-minute genuine reasons but I can’t understand it.
“It’s mind-blowing these days, you see everyone with a mobile phone in their hand so there’s no excuse.”
With the NHS struggling for funds amid budget cuts and increased demand, the British Medical Association said it was crucial appointments are not wasted while the health service is ‘under incredible stress.’
Katie Foster-Greenwood, managing director for Rochdale Infirmary said: “When patients do not attend an appointment on time or do not attend at all, this has an impact on other patients who are waiting and on the staff who have invested their time and expertise in preparing for the appointment.
“We would encourage patients to let us know in plenty of time if they do need to change an appointment by calling our Booking & Scheduling service.
“It is also worth considering that just because a patient feels fine at the time, this does not mean they do not have any underlying issues, so we would always urge a patient to attend a planned appointment until they have been discharged.”
The average outpatient appointment costs the NHS £120, according to the latest resources cost data.
This means that the 52,013 missed sessions cost the trust around £6.24 million.
Dr Robert Harwood, chairman of the BMA’s consultant committee, said: “It is important that no appointments are wasted at a time when the NHS is under incredible stress.”
At Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, out of 317,360 outpatient appointments, 14 percent did not show up.
The figures show 15,757 people failed to make their first appointment, 12% of first attendances, while 36,256, or 16%, did not appear for a subsequent meeting.
Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents organisations across the healthcare sector, said: “The NHS is short of funding, short of staff and faces ever rising demand for its services.
“With modern communication, the excuses for missed appointments are running out.
“There will always be some unforeseen circumstances but, it should be possible to cancel appointments.”