No show patients cost the health service millions each year

According to a new survey, missed appointments costs the National Health Service in the UK £21m.

Apparently in Scotland alone every year, more than 1 million GP appointments and over 500,000 nurse appointments are missed.

A new survey by the health education charity Developing Patient Partnerships (DPP), has found that many of the doctors practices questioned, agreed that patients should be charged for failing turn up.

The British Medical Research Council has estimated the cost of missed appointments at £21m.

Now the DPP has launched a "Keep it or Cancel it" campaign to raise awareness.

It seems many appointments are missed simply because patients forget or because they feel better and choose not to attend.

The survey found that more than 8 out of 10 GP practices said missed appointments meant increased waiting times and were a waste of money.

The charity will provide GP surgeries with resources to help them raise awareness, in order to reduce the number of missed appointments and avoid the need to strike patients off their surgery lists.