Missed Appointments Cost £13m A Year

Patients who fail to turn up for appointments at Lothian hospitals and surgeries are costing taxpayers up to £13 million a year.

Sixty thousand people missed hospital and clinic appointments last year and the latest figures show around 160,000 more did so at GP surgeries.

In an effort to stem the drain on resources, health chiefs are to send those who waste valuable time and resources back to the bottom of waiting lists.

They plan to penalise patients who fail to turn up for appointments without explanation by forcing them to return to their GP for another referral. Just now those who miss appointments usually have them rescheduled.