Missed appointment could be fatal

It is not unusual to see warnings on the walls of hospital and GP waiting areas about the potential dire consequences of missing appointments without taking the trouble to cancel them beforehand.

The cost to the NHS is significant and is also wasting an appointment which could have been put to better use by a patient in greater need.

But there is an even bigger threat to some of those who fail to show – it is not only bad for their health, but it can also kill them.

In the biggest research project of its kind – involving close examination of the GP medical records and attendance histories of 500,000 patients – a team, including researchers from Aberdeen University, made some shocking discoveries.

In particular, patients with longterm physical problems and those with mental illness were most at risk after they missed various appointments over a set period under investigation. For example, missed apppointments for people with multiple health issues could result in death within a year while mental-health cases were eight times more likely to die.

Building relationships with patients is crucial, but engaging with absentees is a huge challenge. It is probably beyond one doctor in all fairness. Winning confidence and trust will require not just the efforts of one GP in isolation, but supporting agencies as well.

“Patients with longterm physical problems and those with mental illness were most at risk”