Over 300,000 NHS appointments are expected to be missed in the week following the clocks going forward this year.
New data, commissioned by Patient Claim Line, has predicted that there will be an additional 15,103 missed GP appointments in the week following daylight savings this year- costing the NHS an expected £453,090.
Studies have shown that there is a 5% increase in the number of missed medical appointments, in the week following the clocks going forward.
In light of this, Patient Claim Line has calculated how many GP appointments may be missed next week – and how much this could cost the NHS.
According to NHS data, in an average week, 302,056 GP appointments are missed. So, a 5% rise would see a total of 317,159 missed appointments in total between the 1st and 7th of April- that’s an additional 15,103 missed appointments than usual.
With each GP appointment costing the NHS an average of £30, the clocks going forward could cost an additional £453,090.
With Brits losing out on an extra hour of sleep, they may be trying to claw back some of this time- which may result in oversleeping and missing scheduled appointments. However, it’s important to note that missing medical appointments comes at a significant cost to the NHS, which has the potential to impact patient care down the line.
Charlotte Rennox at Patient Claim Line, said, “Missed appointments have a substantial impact on the NHS and are set to cost an additional £450,000 alone in the week following the clocks going forward. Unfortunately, these wasted costs could have been allocated to supporting other areas of the NHS and improving resources for patients.”
“Even small reductions in missed appointments could have a large impact on reducing costs, along with health risks to patients so, following the strain of the last few years, it is now more important than ever to support our NHS.”
“Although it is understandable that sometimes circumstances will not allow us to commit to GP appointments, adhering to your local surgery’s cancellation policy means that other patients may be seen, and GP time is not wasted.”
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