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Hospitals hit with £14m bill
Saturday 2nd January 2010, 11:00AM GMT.
Patients failing to meet appointments are costing hospitals in the West Midlands more than £14 million a year, it was revealed today.
More than 215,000 people failed to turn up for treatment over at the region’s hospitals in just one year.
Health bosses across the region say they are alarmed at the spiralling numbers of missed appointments, which they say are endangering the treatment of others.
Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs New Cross, has 43,000 missed appointments a year costing the trust more than £4.3m.
That figure looks set to rise, with the trust having already recorded more than £2.5m in lost income for the first six months of the current financial year.
The Dudley Group of Hospitals, which runs Russells Hall, has seen missed appointments nearly double from 22,000 in 2006 to 43,000 last year, worth more than £4m in lost income.
Recorded
Walsall Hospitals recorded 28,532 missed appointments last year, losing more than £2.9m in potential income, while Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Sandwell, City and Rowley Regis hospitals, had almost 80,000 missed appointments, costing £1.2m.
Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Stafford and Cannock hospitals, estimated its lost income at £1.9m for more than 21,000 missed appointments last year.
Estimated lost income, which overall is more than £14.3m a year, is based on how much each hospital trust could have charged primary care trusts for care if all appointments were met.
Text messages and telephone call reminders have been introduced to help.
Exclusive by Chris Moriarty
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Any idea have much it costs patients in time, money and frustration when the NHS fails to ‘keep’ its appointments?
For example, when you turn up at your appointed time of 9.30am; yet, if you’re lucky, you might just be seen by someone at 10.30am or even 11.30am?
Or when you turn up at the hospital with your suitcase ready for a long-awaited operation, only to be told its been cancelled because some nurse or doctor has phoned in sick?
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How many of the figures are actually the hospital sending letters cancelling appointments?
I have attended outpatients only to be told the consultant isn’t there and given a new appointment that has been cancelled at a later date. I am 8 months later still waiting to be given treatment.
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The hospitals should get a decent computer system! The government has dished out millions to the NHS and the appointments system is rubbish, and very old. Sort this out and then the whole system will work better, with far less cancelled and re-arranged appointments.
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i fail to see how or even why anyone would fail to keep a hospital appointment,
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perhaps the express and star should request figures under freedom of information on the rescheduling and cancellation of appointments (and how many of those who did not attend had their appointments rescheduled), personally i have had numerous appointments rescheduled and it does get confusing at times for me, but what about those who have difficulty with memory or cognition! i know people who work in the nhs who inform me that cancelling and reschedulling is excessive and widespread in all areas of appointments.where is the responsibility of the service providers to keep their side of the agreements?
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To Ray – I have worked in several midlands hospitals. The managers book two or sometimes three patients into one timeslot. eg 3 patients to be seen by one doctor all given 09:30 am appointments. There is no way the doctor can see 3 people at the same time! The entire system is rediculous, and managers do not give a damn they just want to hit the governments targets. That is why you have to sit around waisting your time.
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There really are loads of people who do not turn up for appointments, and they are always requested as urgent. If they were so urgent these people should attend. What’s happening now is the managers are desperately trying to reach targets, even more!! and they are booking initiative clinics,so patients can be seen within the 6 weeks limit, cramming people into late evening or weekend slots to see a (locum) consultant. No extra staff though!!!
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comment6 John you have hit the nail on the head anything to meet ridiculous government targets.
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