Figures reveal that Lancashire patients missed almost 10,000 appointments last year

Medical professionals say that people who miss – or are late for – appointments are depriving someone else of help at a time of stretched resources.

NHS Digital data shows there were that at least 199,825 care contact appointments with a recorded attendance in the 12 months to April.

Care contacts can be done in person or by telephone, and cover a range of services including district nursing, occupational therapy, and health visiting.

They are provided by hospitals, health centres and other bodies such as councils.

But patients at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust failed to attend 9,715 of these, or arrived too late to be seen.

It means around one in 20 appointments at the trust were missed in the period.

Dr Nick Scriven, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said that not showing up for an appointment could lead to someone needing more serious help later, which might have been avoided otherwise.

“These are services put on to help keep the population as healthy and as functional as they can,” he added.

“At a time when finance and resources are so tightly stretched, anyone who does not attend an appointment, for whatever reason, has generally deprived someone else of the available time.”

Patients cancelled a further 10,895 appointments