Northern Ireland: No shows to health appointments costing thousands

Patients who fail to turn up for surgical day case procedures are costing the health service thousands of pounds.

It is a problem across Northern Ireland's five health trusts.

Over a 10-month period in the South Eastern area 14,000 patients did not attend or cancelled review appointments on the day they were due to turn up.

Assistant Director of Elective Surgery at the South Eastern Trust Christine Allam said it was "frustrating".

The South Eastern trust review showed between April 2022 and January 2023, 7,755 people did not attend or cancelled new outpatient appointments on the day.

During the same period, 14,003 or 10% of patients didn't show for review appointments.

Ms Allam said the situation was "frustrating for those patients who are waiting to be seen".

"Those slots where people don't turn up are lost capacity because we haven't been given notice - and this only lengthens the waiting lists," she added.

It is a problem that all health trusts are experiencing.

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Source: BBC News, 24 May 2023