7.9 million appointments were missed in 2016-17, at an average cost of £120 each ALAMYMissed hospital appointments cost the NHS almost £1 billion a year and deprive patients of vital care, the health service’s top nurse has said. As the service heads into what is likely to be the busiest week of the winter, Jane Cummings, the chief nursing officer for England, called for the public to be more responsible about wasting time and resources. A million more cataract operations or 250,000 hip replacements could be funded if the NHS did not have to pay for appointments that people failed to attend, she said. Official figures show that 7.9 million appointments were missed in 2016-17, meaning that patients do not turn up to one in 15 of the 119 million scheduled. At an average cost of £120 per slot,…

Source: The Times January 02, 2018 00:02 UTC