Hospital trusts 'lost £36m due to missed appointments' through pandemic
Hospital trusts across the Black Country and Staffordshire potentially lost more than £36 million due to missed appointments through the pandemic, figures show.
The failed appointments waste time and heap pressure on consultants who already face “extraordinary demand” due to the virus, says the British Medical Association.
NHS Digital data shows that in the 11 months from April last year, there were 228,615 outpatient appointments which people did not show up for.
It means out of 2.9 million booked sessions, seven per cent were unattended.
And with the average outpatient appointment costing £160 – as estimated by several NHS trusts – the no-shows may have cost trusts across the region around £36.6 million.
Across England's health providers, five million appointments were missed during the same period to the end of February, around seven per cent of those booked – wasting the NHS an estimated £760 million.
Dr Rob Harwood, BMA consultants committee chairman, said it was “concerning” to see the rate of failed appointments given the current backlog in care.
He said: “We urge people not to just simply fail to attend as this wastes an appointment time that could have been used for someone else; someone who might potentially need it more urgently.
“It also places the most pressure on consultants trying to deliver a service under extraordinary demand and in already difficult circumstances.”
Across England, the highest rates of people failing to show for appointments were in December and January – coinciding with the second wave of the pandemic.
A spokesman from NHS England said measures were in place in hospitals to ensure patients remained safe.
He added: "People should continue to attend their medical appointments as normal - if you are unable to attend for any reason, please let us know so your appointment can be filled by another patient who may need it.”
Of the missed appointments in the Black Country and Staffordshire, 81,930 were first appointments and 146,685 were follow-ups. All figures are rounded to the nearest five.
Burden
A spokesman for The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust said: “Everyone should continue to attend their medical appointments - including for screening and immunisations – as there are strict measures in place to keep patients safe.
“If you are unable to attend for any reason, our message is clear, please let us know so your appointment can be filled by another patient who may need it.”
Dr John Oxtoby, medical director, said: “Our teams are doing everything possible to treat and care for patients quickly.
"At the height of the pandemic many people have not been accessing healthcare and as we see changes to the national lockdown measures we are now seeing more and more people come forward needing appointments.
“With this increase in demand for our services it is even more critical that people tell us if they are unable to turn up for their outpatient appointment.
"We can’t treat an empty chair and one appointment missed means we are not able to offer it to someone else waiting for care.
"Whilst the cost of missed outpatient appointments represents a huge financial burden, we want to make sure every appointment is filled to ensure patients are receiving the care they need as quickly as possible.
“I would appeal to patients to make us aware as soon as possible if they can’t attend so that we can offer that appointment to another patient.”
