48 GP appointments missed per day

Wed, 07 Dec 2022

New figures show 48 GP appointments per day were wasted due to patients not attending booked appointments across all 11 practices on the Island between April 2021 to March 2022.

Manx Care said it acknowledges that a number of patients are experiencing difficulties getting an appointment with their GP. 

The total number of patient “did not attends” (DNAs) from April 2021 to March 2022 was 12,444. The cost of this to Manx Care was approximately £472,872 (based on £38 average cost for each GP appointment – in line with the NHS England/Kings Fund estimation on cost of a nine-minute appointment). The highest number of recorded DNAs in one surgery was 499 in March 2022.

The pattern of high DNA numbers appears to be continuing through 2022-23, with 7,332 appointments already missed between April and September 2022.

Dr. John Snelling, Manx Care’s Associate Director of Primary Care, commented: “We encourage patients to consider the impact of booking an appointment with their GP surgery and then not turning up. Our telephone lines are extremely busy and so, where possible, please help us by cancelling your appointment via the Patient Access app.  Alternatively, please email, text (where available) or ring the practice."

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