More than one million GP appointments are missed each month because patients don't bother to turn up, NHS figures have revealed.
Shock data released today has shown patients didn't attend nearly six million consultations in the first five months of 2018.
And one in 10 patients are kept waiting for three weeks or more before they can see their doctor.
In October, 2.8million patients didn't see a doctor until 21 days after first trying to make an appointment, and half of those people waited more than a month.
The Royal College of General Practitioners today urged patients to let their GP surgery know 'as soon as possible' if they can't attend their appointment.
The NHS Digital figures come amid warnings the unprecedented demand and falling GP numbers has left the primary care sector extremely fragile.
Shock data released today has shown patients didn't attend nearly six million consultations in the first five months of 2018
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the RCGP, said: 'Today's data also shows that many patients are not attending appointments when they have made them.
'There can be a number of reasons for this, and in some cases a patient not attending an appointment can be an indication that something has gone wrong.
'But this waste of resources is frustrating, and we would urge patients to let us know if they can't attend as soon as possible.'
She added that informing the GP surgery would allow over-stretched doctors to 'offer that time to someone else who really needs it'.
The NHS figures, collected every month, show around 116million GP appointments were made between January and May.
However, statisticians behind the figures believe the true figure is closer to the 130million mark because not all GP practices are included.
Of the known appointments made, 5.8million were classed as missed – meaning patients don't turn up to around one in 20 consultations.
Data showed slightly more than 115million GP appointments were made in the five months between June and October.
But the figures have not yet been jotted up to work out the proportion of patients who missed them. However, it is likely to be similar.
At the same time as people are missing appointments, millions are have having to wait three weeks to a month – or more – before they can get an audience with their GP.
In total, 10.3 per cent of patients are now waiting three weeks or more to see a doctor, The Telegraph reported.
This figure is worse than last year when it was just 9.4 per cent of people.
Around four in ten patients manage to get an appointment on the same day they phone the doctor, and two thirds are seen the same week.
Frustrated GPs have for years touted the controversial idea of fining patients if they fail to turn up to their appointments.
And surveys have shown the majority of Britons support fines for people who miss GP and hospital appointments to boost NHS funding.
A proposal to even charge patients £5 in the hope of deterring them from seeing their GP was even put forward to the British Medical Association this summer.
Official figures showed in February that 41 per cent of GPs – around 10,000 doctors – are 50 or over and are expected to quit within the next five to ten years.
Many are retiring in their 50s, moving abroad or leaving to work in the private sector, increasing the pressure on those who still work in the sector.
| Oct-18 | Sep-18 | Aug-18 | Jul-18 | Jun-18 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total count of appointments | 27,084,027 | 21,903,722 | 21,518,463 | 22,723,785 | 22,147,049 |
| Estimated total appointments | 29,680,000 | 24,030,000 | 23,830,000 | 25,030,000 | 24,460,000 |
| Attended | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN |
| Did Not Attend | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN |
| Unknown | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN |
| May-18 | Apr-18 | Mar-18 | Feb-18 | Jan-18 | |
| Total count of appointments | 23,178,584 | 22,102,023 | 23,437,784 | 22,256,320 | 25,331,515 |
| Estimated total appointments | 25,690,000 | 24,570,000 | 26,190,000 | 24,890,000 | 28,350,000 |
| Attended | 21,095,537 | 20,095,474 | 20,769,159 | 19,938,289 | 22,915,637 |
| Did Not Attend | 1,125,374 | 1,090,615 | 1,218,119 | 1,147,041 | 1,241,041 |
| Unknown | 957,673 | 915,934 | 1,450,506 | 1,170,990 | 1,174,837 |
Record shortages are leaving patients with ever-longer waiting times, and make it far more difficult to see the same GP each time.
Despite an NHS a £2.4billion plan to recruit 5,000 extra GPs by 2021 and cut a staff shortage, numbers of family doctors are falling.
Fewer young doctors are choosing to specialise as GPs, and are opting for more ‘macho’ career paths as surgeons or specialists.
Pressures faced by doctors also include a rising number of patients, some with multiple complex health conditions.
This has led to concerns that the average consultation time of 10 minutes in the UK – thought to be the shortest in the developed world - is simply not enough.
MORE THAN 700 GP SURGERIES COULD CLOSE BY 2023
More than 2.5 million patients across England could see their GP surgeries close in the next five years, experts revealed last week.
The Royal College of General Practitioners said 762 practices in the UK are at risk of closing within the next five years because at least three quarters of their doctors are aged 55 or over and approaching retirement.
Experts said so many closures would have a 'catastrophic' effect on the health service.
Appointment waiting times could get even longer, workloads would grow and more people could end up queueing at A&E for minor illnesses.
Campaigners warned the potential closures would be 'dangerous' for patients and are calling for 'drastic action' to encourage new GPs to join the profession.
The situation is worst in Southend in Essex, where 13 of the area's 35 GP practices are at risk of closing, potentially affecting nearly 39,000 patients.
A third of surgeries in the London borough of Havering could shut down, and more than 85,000 patients could lose their GP in Sandwell and West Birmingham.
Only around a quarter of areas of England have no practices at risk of closure, according to the RCGP's estimates.
Figures from the Royal College of General Practitioners have revealed 762 GP practices across the UK are at risk of closing in the next five years (Map shows the proportion of surgeries in each area which are at risk of closing)
https://textbacklinkexchanges.com/nhs-figures-reveal-nearly-6million-appointments-were-missed-in-the-first-five-months-of-2018/
News Pictures NHS figures reveal nearly 6million appointments were missed in the first five months of 2018
You don’t have to pack away your bikini just because you’re the wrong side of 20. These body-beautiful stars reveal their secrets to staying in shape and prove you can smoulder in a two-piece, whatever your age. Read on and be bikini inspired!
TEENS
Hayden Panettiere
Size: 8
Age: 18
Height: 5ft 1in
Weight: 8st
To achieve her kick-ass figure, Hayden – who plays cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes – follows the ‘quartering’ rule. She eats only a quarter of the food on her plate, then waits 20 minutes before deciding whether she needs to eat again.
Hayden says: “I don’t have a model’s body, but I’m not one of those crazy girls who thinks that they’re fat. I’m OK with what I have.”
Nicollette says: “I don’t like diets – I see it, I eat it! I believe in eating healthily with lots of protein, vegetables and carbs to give you energy.”
kim cattrall
Size: 10-12
Age: 52
Height: 5ft 8in
Weight: 9st 4lb
SATC star Kim swears by gym sessions with Russian kettle bells (traditional cast-iron weights) and the South Beach Diet to give her the body she wants. To avoid overeating, Kim has a radical diet trick – squirting lemon juice on her leftovers – so she won’t carry on picking.
Kim says: “I am no super-thin Hollywood actress. I am built for men who like women to look like women.”
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/12/06/15/7094768-0-image-a-1_1544109902783.jpg
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