Missed GP appointments in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire this year is claimed to have cost NHS more than £5 million

More than 180,000 GP appointments have been missed by patients across Peterborough and Cambridgeshire this year.

According to figures from the NHS Digital, the number of missed appointments equates to a cost to the local NHS of £5,089,470.

The number of missed appointments nationally has triggered concern among health chiefs already struggling with rising costs and tighter budget who are urging patients to make sure they attend appointments or cancel in good time to give other patients the chance to fill the gap.

The statistics show that in NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough last year – but not including December – 3.6 per cent of GP appointments were recorded as missed or patient Did Not Attend.

That is 183,069 missed appointments, which means, with the NHS reckoning that the average GP appointment costs £30, a cost to the local health service of £5,492,070.

At NHS Northamptonshire, the number of missed GP appointments was 127,471 – 3.2 per cent of the total number of GP appointments – at a cost of £3,824,130.

At NHS Lincolnshire, over the year there were 169,649 missed GP appointments – 3.8 per cent of the total – at a cost to the health service of £5,089,470.

Nationally, 14 million appointments were missed by patients at an estimated cost of £421 million to the NHS.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Every appointment missed is taxpayers’ money wasted, and we strongly encourage patients to attend their GP appointments.

“We are incredibly grateful to GPs and their staff, whose hard work ensured that in the 12 months up to October 2022, there were around 93,000 more GP appointments every working day compared to last year.”

An NHS spokesperson said: “Record numbers of people are being treated by the NHS with millions more GP appointments being delivered compared to before the pandemic.

“The message however to patients is clear and has not changed - it is vital that people seek care when they need it.”

A total of 346.3 million appointments have been recorded in general practice - including COVID vaccinations - over the last 12 months.