More than 120,000 GP appointments missed in Shropshire in a year, costing NHS £3.7m

The Royal College of GPs says missed appointments are “frustrating” for doctors but warned that non-attendance could be for many reasons, including underlying mental health issues.

NHS Digital data shows that last year an estimated 70,067 appointments were missed without enough notice to invite other patients in the Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group area – an average of 192 per day.

In the area covered by Telford & Wrekin CCG, the figure was estimated to be 52,427 – an average of 144 per day.

This includes appointments with nurses, therapists and other practice staff, as well as doctors.

A missed GP appointment costs around £30, according to NHS England.

It means that Shropshire CCG could have lost out on around £2.1 million through patient no-shows last year, while Telford and Wrekin CCG could have lost out on about £1.6 million.

A spokesman for the CCGs said: “The CCG is aware that a number of appointments are lost through some patients not cancelling their pre-booked appointments. This means that other patients are unable to book causing increased waiting times.

“The practices in Shropshire and the majority in Telford & Wrekin use either online, app-based or text messaging services to send appointment reminders to patients 24 to 48 hours prior to their appointment. This service also allows patients to automatically cancel their appointment if they are no longer able to attend.

“We would appeal to patients that where they are unable to make an appointment, for whatever reason, that they please let their practice know so that time can be reallocated.”

Charging

A survey by Pulse magazine last year found that four in 10 GPs would be in favour of charging patients for appointments.

Professor Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: “Missed appointments are very frustrating, especially when GPs could be seeing other patients – but, for some patients, there may be more complex reasons for non-attendance and it could indicate something more serious, such as underlying mental health issues.

“Charging for appointments, missed or otherwise, would fundamentally change one of the founding principles of the NHS, that access is free at the point of need. It is also unlikely that the benefits of such an approach would outweigh the costs of implementing it.

“GP practices are working hard to ensure that patients are aware of their appointments by sending reminders by text and email or encouraging them to make appointments through the surgery app. However, it would be helpful if practices had more time and resource to follow up patients they might have particular concerns about."

More than 15 million people across England failed to turn up to booked GP appointments last year.

An NHS England spokesperson said: “As part of the NHS Long Term Plan we are investing record amounts of money in primary care services and treating more patients, but GPs are seeing an increase in demand - which is why the message is clear: if you cannot make it to your appointment or no longer need a consultation please let your GP practice know in advance so the appointment can be filled by another patient.”