A GP sees a patient
(Picture: PA Wire)The number of people not attending their booked GP appointment has jumped by nearly a fifth in a month, according to NHS Digital figures.
It comes as Downing Street suggested that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak could push ahead with controversial plans to fine people £10 for missing an appointment, a flagship policy in his leadership campaign.
Figures published by NHS Digital on Thursday showed that 1,399,358 people did not attend a GP appointment in September — a jump of 17 per cent on the previous month.
The number of ‘no shows’ represents about five per cent of all booked appointments, a rise from 4.5 per cent last month and the highest proportion since October last year.
During the Tory leadership campaign, Mr Sunak vowed to introduce a temporary £10 charge for patients who failed to turn up for an appointment without providing notice.
He said that patients would be given the “benefit of the doubt” the first time around but would face fines for further missed appointments.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the Prime Minister’s spokeswoman said that Mr Sunak “stands by the sentiment” of the proposal but refused to fully commit to the policy. She insisted it would first have to be discussed with Health Secretary Steve Barclay.
But she added that Mr Sunak was “definitely committed to ensuring that we get the best value for taxpayers, the best value for money out of the NHS”.
Trade unions have criticised the plan as unworkable, with the British Medical Association saying it “stood firmly against the idea of charging patients for missed appointments”.
“While it is frustrating when patients do not attend, the reasons why this happens should be investigated rather than simply resorting to punishing them,” said BMA chairman Philip Banfield.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the “cost of administrating” the policy would be “as much as anything you raise by it”.
“Fining is going to gum up the system with a huge bureaucracy of chasing people and, in the end, if it’s a £10 fine, are we actually going to follow it up,” he asked in July.
Meanwhile, the number of overall GP appointments climbed to its highest total in six months with a total of 28,251,282 offered up. Over a third (68.1 per cent) were carried out face to face, the highest number since before the Covid pandemic.
