Missed appointments cost NHS £20 million a year

MISSED hospital appointments cost the NHS almost £20 million a year, a report revealed today.

A report by public spending watchdog Audit Scotland revealed between July and September last year, one in 10 patients did not attend their first outpatient appointment.

Over the three-month period there were more than 44,000 unused clinic appointments.

The report revealed an average loss of £112 for each outpatient appointment meant it had cost the NHS in Scotland nearly £5 million in three months.

But NHS Grampian appears to have fared better than the Scottish average over missed appointments.

NHS Grampian figures show the level was 8% in 2008.

But an NHS Grampian spokesman said: “We are confident the rate has gone down since then. A ‘patient-focused' booking system is being rolled out in our hospitals in which patients are asked by letter which appointment times would suit them.

“It is proving very successful.”

The latest figures show about 307,000 people are waiting for an NHS outpatient appointment or to be admitted to hospital, with 99.9% waiting less that the 15-week target maximum.

Auditor General for Scotland Robert Black said new arrangements had improved the way the NHS manages waiting lists.

Under the old system some patients were given availability status codes, which excluded them from waiting-time guarantees. In December 2006 almost 60,000 people fell into that category.

But the report said this system was criticised for operating as “hidden waiting lists”.

The new system – called New Ways – ended this practice.