Missed GP appointments in Derby cost more than £100,000 a year

[Northerner]

MORE than £100,000 a year is being wasted because thousands of Derby patients are failing to turn up for GP appointments.

At least 4,300 more patients could have been seen by city doctors in the past 12 months if people had bothered to cancel their slot, health bosses have said.

http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Mis...100-000-year/story-21144204-detail/story.html

I absolutely don't agree with patients missing appointments without informing surgery, but I do also suspect that they 'overbook' based on the chances of missed appointments, much as airlines do with overbooking seats. If everyone always turned up I suspect they wouldn't be able to cope. Not saying that's true, but just guessing!

 

[trophywench]

Well if it didn't take you so very long to actually get through on the phone, maybe more would?

It can take up to an hour, constantly re-dialling to get it not engaged, then up to 3 mins to speak to a person after you've gone through the press button 1-9 menu and all the dire warnings about not having the barefaced cheek to ring for something like a Repeat or a test result within the prescribed timeslot. Once it rings out again, for Reception and a person, if they haven't answered by a further 10 minutes, it just cuts you off.

 

[AlisonM]

Hmm. Your surgery sounds awful Trophy. I called mine this afternoon because I thought I'd had a phone appointment booked for today (it's tomorrow 😱). The phone rang twice and was answered by a real human being, I was on the phone by about a minute and half total and left the receptionist chuckling because I'd got confused... Again!

I don't hold with folk missing appointments and not letting the surgery know either. They wouldn't do it with the dentist for obvious reasons, perhaps surgeries should also charge for missed appointments?

 

[Northerner]

Hmm. Your surgery sounds awful Trophy. I called mine this afternoon because I thought I'd had a phone appointment booked for today (it's tomorrow 😱). The phone rang twice and was answered by a real human being, I was on the phone by about a minute and half total and left the receptionist chuckling because I'd got confused... Again!

I don't hold with folk missing appointments and not letting the surgery know either. They wouldn't do it with the dentist for obvious reasons, perhaps surgeries should also charge for missed appointments?

Have to say I took pity on the poor receptionists at my surgery this morning. My appointment was for 9:00, the waiting room was already half full and there was a queue leading back from the receptionists' desk to almost out of the door. Two phones were either ringing constantly or being answered. It would be difficult to phone in a cancellation under those circumstances, but things do calm down later in the day.