Dundee has the second-highest rate in Scotland of patients who don’t turn up for their hospital appointment, it has emerged.
Latest figures have revealed the “did not attend” rate in the city between October and December 2021 was 11.2 per cent.
Only Glasgow had a worse rate at 12.4 per cent while patients living in North Lanarkshire were equally unlikely to make a scheduled hospital appointment.
City-based MSP Maurice Golden said all authorities must work together to find a way of improving Dundee’s rate and remind patients of the importance of attending booked appointments.
The 11.2 per cent rate equates to 1074 patients in three months.
It has been estimated that each missed appointment costs the NHS around £160, meaning nearly £2000 a day is wasted because of no-shows from Dundee.
The Scottish average for DNAs is 9.2 per cent, and this is the first quarter for which missed appointments have returned to pre-pandemic rates.
Scottish Conservative North East MSP Maurice Golden said: “There are a number of reasons why a patient might fail to turn up for an appointment.
“That includes being unable to travel, being suddenly unwell, confused or simply having forgotten or made a mistake.
“Either way, the rate for Dundee patients is the second-highest in Scotland, and far above many other similar local authorities across the country.
“Everyone needs to work together to see what can be done to improve attendance rates.
“Having a high number of DNAs is bad for the hospital, bad for NHS finances and, of course, bad for the patient who needs that healthcare.”
And he added: “We need to be smart and imaginative when it comes to finding a solution, and it’s important for the sake of public health and finances that we come up with one soon.
“Nothing should be off the table when it comes to positive measures like better digital communication or making it easier for patients to get to where their appointments are.”
- Scotland’s full list of hospital attendance figures can be seen here.
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