Fri, 25 Aug 2006
Missed appointments increasing despite same day appointments
A survey from DPP: Developing Patient Partnerships shows that over 11 million GP appointments are missed per year and just over 5 million practice nurse appointments.The majority (88%) of practices who responded to the survey say that missed appointments cause them problems. When patients are able to pre book appointments this results in an increase in the numbers that are missed, according to 30% of practices. Even with same day appointments, 49% of practices either don’t know if there has been any change in the number of missed appointments or they report numbers staying the same or actually increasing.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, GP and DPP Spokesman said
"People are still missing appointments even when they make them for the same day. Appointments cost the NHS money. Missed appointments are a waste of valuable resources. With the move to offer the public more services, and more expensive services through the GP, the issue of missed appointments is an increasing problem for practices."
Commenting on the campaign,nurse practitioner Anne Baird said
"Missed appointments mean that everyone has to wait longer to be seen. For nurses, missed appointments can waste considerable time and resources. For example, sometimes an entire family may book in for their holiday jabs and then fail to turn up – leaving the nurse with several wasted appointments. Nurses are increasingly managing the long-term care of patients with chronic illness, such as diabetes. Often these patients are given a double appointment for a full review. Again, if appointments like these are missed, it’s extremely frustrating for nurses, who want to deliver the best possible care to all their patients."
Commenting on the survey,Danny Daniels , Chair of the National Association for Patient Participation (NAPP) said
"The survey highlights the enormity of the problem and a number of strategies are needed in order to address this. It is important to note that the percentages of missed appointments will differ widely depending upon the location of the surgery, the individual surgery’s approach to DNAs, the patients’ list profile and a whole number of other factors including whether the practice has a patient group in place. NAPP would like to see further research studies undertaken to ascertain the causes, arrive at solutions and discover best practice. This would clarify what steps practices can take to reduce DNAs and would further highlight the responsibility of patients not to waste valuable appointments."
Ends
For further information, please contact:
Pam Prentice 0207 383 6144 pprentice@bma.org.uk
Alison Pettifer 020 7383 6715 apettifer@bma.org.uk
Notes for editors
- The survey was conducted with 329 GP surgeries throughout the UK between 17/07/06 to 01/08/06.
- DPP: Developing Patient Partnerships (formerly Doctor Patient Partnership) is a health education charity working with primary care organisations, businesses and the public www.dpp.org.uk
Regional Statistics PDF Download