147 hours of GPs’ time lost to missed appointments

NEARLY 900 appointments have been missed so far this year at Melksham’s GP surgeries. 

Up to the end of May, a total of 882 appointments – both telephone and face-to-face – have been missed at Spa Medical Centre and Giffords Surgery this year, amounting to 147 hours of lost time.  

Dr Abby Burgess, a senior partner at Giffords Surgery, which had 400 missed appointments said, “Annually there are 7.2 million missed GP practice appointments, costing the NHS £216million. To put that in perspective, that could pay for 58,320 hip operations. 

“At Giffords Surgery during the month of May 2022 we had 69 appointments where patients did not attend, this adds up to 12 hours of lost appointments, which equates to two full clinics. These missed appointments are with GPs, advanced nurse practitioners, nurses, therapists, pharmacists and other practice staff. When patients miss appointments, it can be a frustrating waste of resources for GPs and our teams, but also for other patients who need appointments. 

“Access to timely GP appointments is important and we know this is a priority for our patients and community. We would urge all our patients to let us know if they cannot attend as soon as possible, so that we can offer the appointment to someone who really needs it. 

“We all know general practice is short-staffed and we are working incredibly hard, so please help us to be as efficient as possible by cancelling your booked appointment either online or on 01225 896630.” 

A spokesperson for Spa Medical Centre, which had 482 missed appointments said, “The standard appointment length is 10 minutes, so that’s 80 hours across 5 months, which is the equivalent to 3.7 hours/week, or one GP session/nurse clinic.  

“As you know, demand is higher than ever and we have limited resources, capacity is stretched. Our priority is to provide safe, responsive high quality clinical care to our patient community so it’s vital everyone keeps their appointment.    

“‘Did not attend’ (DNA) appointments prevent other patients from accessing a GP/nurse/other healthcare professional in a timely way.”  

The surgeries are urging patients to contact them if they need to cancel or reschedule an appointment.  

They say, “If you cannot make it to an appointment, please call the practice, and a receptionist will be able to rebook the appointment for you.  We understand that sometimes you may not be able to make your appointment with us and will need to cancel it. It’s extremely important that you remember to notify us of any cancellations. 

“By remembering to cancel your appointment, we can offer valuable time to other patients who might need it and reduce our overall waiting times.”