The Marlborough Medical Practice has reported that during the three months December 2014 to February 2015, a total of 526 appointments with clinical staff were missed.
As at least some of these appointments will have been for more than the standard appointment time of 10 minutes, they have calculated that in that lost time they could have seen up to 608 more patients. And, in turn, that is roughly equivalent to all of the appointments with one of the Practice’s GPs over the course of six weeks.
Amidst all the talk of a shortage of GPs and a serious squeeze on NHS funds, this must count as a serious waste of resources.
The Practice are asking their patients’ help in improving appointment availability by only booking appointments that that are needed, and patients letting the Practice reception know if they are unable to attend a booked appointment.
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