Health: Heswall and Pensby Group Practice bemoans appointment ‘no shows’

Heswall and Pensby Group Practice on Telegraph Road has revealed that, in June, some 313 appointments were booked - but then not kept

It's a number the practice describes as "staggering".

The 313 include:

102 face to face appointments with a GP - said to be "over three full days of a GP's time wasted".

19 face to face appointments with a Physician Associate.

70 face to face appointments with a Nurse

92 face to face Phlebotomist appointments

It appears our part of the world is not unusual.

GP appointment data, published by NHS Digital, shows that in May 27.5 million appointments were arranged.

Nearly 1.2 million of them had to be marked as 'did not attend'. 

Half of appointments — 13.8 million — were with GPs and 12.8 million (46.6 percent) were with nurses or other members of staff, which could include acupuncturists, chiropodists or even counsellors in some cases.

The pandemic altered the provision of local healthcare as social distancing made face to face appointments more difficult. In common with many aspects of our lives, ways of working remotely had to be found.

Now there is something of a debate about the future of this aspect of healthcare, with some saying we need to return to pre-pandemic levels of face to face appointments, while others argue that a balance needs to be struck and that remote consultation and diagnosis have important roles to play in extending care and freeing up practitioners' time.

Before the pandemic around eight out of ten appointments took place in person. Now it's about six - and there have been studies which show many patients are happy to be dealt with remotely.

However, Heswall and Pensby Group Practice says those who do book a face to face appointment and then fail to turn up have a real impact on provision.

"A 'no show' for an appointment stops another patient being seen sooner.

"If you can't make an appointment, please let us know, and call on 0151 342 2811 to cancel or rearrange your appointment."