Stay-away patients waste doctors’ time (From Echo)

Stay-away patients waste doctors’ time

1:10am Friday 19th September 2008 in News By Christine Sexton

THOUSANDS of people are failing to keep outpatient appointments at Southend and Basildon hospitals which is wasting doctors’ valuable time.

Figures released following a Freedom of Information request by the Echo, show the numbers failing to attend Southend Hospital has risen for the past three years.

In 2007/08 more than 47,000 people failed to show up for appointments at Southend. This lead to Southend Hospital missing out on £4.9million in payments from the area’s primary care trust.

Figures show the number of missed appointments has risen by 8,000 since 2005/06. For each missed appointment the trust lost a £630 fee from the care trust.

In addition, 726 day case patients failed to arrive for treatments and 36 inpatients who didn’t take up their beds.

The figures do not include people who cancel their appointments as these can be rearranged.

Some missed appointments were put down to administrative errors and a short notice period given to patients. But the weight of numbers suggests an increasing number of people disregard the cost to hospitals and other patients on waiting lists.

John Gilham, chief executive of Southend Hospital, said the figures were disappointing.

He said: “Reducing waiting times has required a tremendous amount of work on the part of hospital staff and we are keen to stress how important it is for patients to let us know if they cannot keep their appointment.

“As long as we are notified an appointment time is no longer convenient, we can look to offer this slot to someone else on the waiting list and give them the opportunity to be seen and treated as quickly as possible.”

Basildon Hospital has seen a slight decrease in the number of missed appointments. While the trust lost more than £3million in the past financial year, figures show ten per cent of patients missed appointments – a drop from 10.7 per cent three years ago.

Mark Magrath, Basildon deputy chief executive, said: “We are pleased we are making headway in reducing the percentage of patients who do not turn up for outpatient appointments.”