Missed appointments cost Western Trust £4m last year

MORE than 18,200 outpatient appointments were missed across the Western Health Trust last year, costing the organisation around £4 million in lost resources.

From April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025, a total of 18,206 patients did not attend their consultant outpatient appointment or failed to give staff enough notice to offer the slot to someone else.

“We understand that there are many genuine reasons why people are not able to make an appointment,” said Paul Doherty, Assistant Director of Surgery, Paediatrics & Women’s Health. “However, as these figures show, every missed appointment is a lost opportunity for someone else to be seen.”

He added, “The appointment slot is actual time with a member of our clinical and nursing staff who are dedicated to patient care.”

Each missed appointment costs the Trust £220, which Mr Doherty described as ‘valuable resources and staff time… wasted’, adding, “this will have a significant impact on [an] already overstretched health service.”

The Trust is urging patients to cancel if they are unable to attend.

“Where possible, we would ask patients with an appointment to let the hospital know if they won’t be able to attend and to do this at the earliest opportunity and at least 24 hours beforehand,” Mr Doherty said.

“This will provide the booking team with time to fill the slot with another patient who has been referred for treatment and care.”

To reduce non-attendance, the Trust has introduced several support measures. “Patients are given a choice of dates and times and they can select one that best suits them,” Mr Doherty explained.

“Patients attending outpatient appointments across the Western Trust area receive a SMS text to their mobile phone or an automated voicecall to their landline, reminding them of their outpatient appointment three days prior to their appointment,” he said.

He also highlighted the ConnectWest App, which “allows for online messaging which includes out of hours communication with the booking team.”