How do they work this out?

[Kathyan]

It has been reported in the news this morning that missed hospital appointments cost the NHS �600 milion a year. How do they work this out? Don't they overbook appointments anyway?

[jake-the-peg]

Trusts don't get paid for missed appointments so they tot up thte time for the apponitments and multiply by the hourly running costs.

So the idea of "cost" is a bit misleading it doesn't end up being deducted from the budget. It would be better to represent it in terms of the delays it adds to waiting lists but that probably didn't make such a dramatic headline.

[buildersmate]

.......... and 'no' they don't overbook appontments. How would you like it if you arrived at 10 o'clock to find someone also booked in at that time?
A simplified version of what happens is that they allow an average time for an appointment - but individuals are different are each patient actual time varies. That's fine to an extent if it runs a little bit over for a few appointments as not too many people mind waiting a little bit. But if several appointments take a shorter time than the average, the consultant gets to a point where the next patient has not arrived as he/she is running so early. And once lost, that time is lost for the rest of the day.
So one has to suspect that the appointment sections tend to err on the side of allowing minimum timings - which is why (on average) queues tend to get worse later in the day.

[LazyGun]

Interesting article here on what can be done to reduce the numbers of "Do Not Attends", and what it represents, in terms of things like lost surgery time.

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/article.aspx?name= FreemanHospitalCaseStudy

[BertiWooster]

A lot of patients think that the time on their appointment letter is the time that they are to be seen , which causes some to get vocal , when they have to wait .

In fact it is an ' arrival time'

[Sqad]

buildersmate......of course they overbook.

If they didn't and someone didn't turn up, then you would be left there "playing with yourself"

Let the patients wait when you over book because your time is more valuable than theirs.

[rojash]

At the local hospital that my father attends, it's quite common to get seen anything up to four hours after the appointed time. Apart from the fact that quite often the consultants don't arrive until a couple of hours after the first appointment time, if, as buildersmate suggests, they allow what the consider to be an average appointment time, it must be of the order of a few seconds. Where I come from, we call this overbooking.

[Oneeyedvic]

Buildersmate . But if several appointments take a shorter time than the average, the consultant gets to a point where the next patient has not arrived as he/she is running so early. And once lost, that time is lost for the rest of the day.

I have been to several doctors appointments and can honestly say that I have never been in to see the doctor early despite being there at least 10 mins before my appointment time. I certainly have been very late (though only up to one hour) in seeing them.

I just had to wait 5 months to see a consultant. I work literally 5 mins from the hospital and have told them that I would be more than happy to have an appointment if anyone cancels. I doubt I am the only one who thinks like this - but I never received a call. Can I assume that noone cancelled their appointment?

Most people I know do not turn up on time, but arrive early to see their doctor. A 10 min appointment could easily be made up by another patient towards the end of the day.

Has anyone on here ever been early to see their doctor / consultant?

[Robinia]

They don't overbook? Have you ever sat in a crowded waiting room & asked the other people what time their appt was?

OEVic, rarely I've been seen on time & you make a good point about taking up spaces at short notice.
Some departments don't help themselves to do that though. Twice I was sent hospital appointments that weren't convenient for me. I called straight away to tell them & mentioned that if there were any cancellations that day I could get there within about 30 minutes. They were so pleased & both times I did fill in but they don't all work that way... 'Oh no, sorry, you need a letter with a new appointment'. Too much paperwork is what wastes money.