PATIENTS who don’t turn up to GP appointments should be fined £10, doctors have said.
The call comes as NHS data shows a total of 40,000 people per day fail to show up to their appointment.
2
With the average appointment costing the NHS £39, the patient “no shows” have cost in total over £1.4 a day.
Meanwhile, patients are struggling to secure a slot, being left to wait weeks for a non-urgent GP appointment.
Dr Sarah Jarvis, a GP and clinical director, told the Express that missed appointments were “incredibly frustrating” for patients and doctors.
She said: “GP appointments are very precious because there aren’t enough of us.”
“If people choose to make an appointment and then not turn up, that’s an appointment that could have gone to somebody else.”
Dr Jarvis said she supported the idea of fining those who fail to turn up a small amount, between £5 and £10.
She added: “I’ve always been vehemently against the idea of fining people for using the NHS, but I think that’s very different to fining people for abusing the NHS.”
“If you have an appointment and you suddenly find at short notice that you can’t make it, everybody has mobile phones. How difficult would it be to send a message or drop the practice a note online?”
“The problem we’ve got is the practicalities. Who’s going to collect the fine? You can’t expect receptionists to do it.”
Professor Karol Sikora, a consultant oncologist and professor of medicine agreed and said fines for those who fail to show up “without fair notice could be considered”.
He said: “Failing to attend a GP appointment without a timely cancellation is selfish and a waste of everybody’s time.”
“Millions of people are desperate to see a doctor. By taking up valuable resources you are denying somebody else the opportunity which could potentially save their life.”
However, Dennis Reed, director of over-60s campaign group Silver Voices, suggested it would be more effective to warn patients there will be consequences for not showing up such as being removed from the GP’s list.
Figures have revealed there were 1,075,661 appointments missed in January, 1,076,215 in February, 1,288,983 in March and 1,044,698 in April.
The total cost of all the skipped appointments could pay for the salaries of more than 2,000 full-time GPs, 8,000 community nurses, or fund 200,000 cataract operations and 50,000 hip replacements.
2
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for Central Recorder news desk?