02.12.16
Hospital outpatient appointments and cancellations at record high
NHS Digital’s annual hospital outpatient figures have shown a record number of appointments being cancelled, highlighting the growing financial and functional strain on NHS hospitals.
Hospitals in England called off 7.68 million outpatient appointments last year, nearly three times more than had been cancelled in 2005-06 (2.76 million).
The figures showed a sharp increase in demand for healthcare over the last decade as the number of appointments overall almost doubled, leaping from 60.6 million in the year 2005-06 to 113.3 million last year.
“The rising rate of outpatient appointments is another sign of an NHS under stress,” said Andrew Goddard, register for the Royal College of Physicians (RCP). “While most appointments are postponed rather than just cancelled, the extra waiting time can cause anxiety for patients and delay in getting the right treatment.”
Goddard added that the figures clearly indicated the NHS needs a new budget, arguing that the NHS is struggling to cope with rising demand and insufficient funding.
Overall, patients attended 78.9% of the 113.3 million appointments made last year, slightly down from the figures a decade ago. However, the proportion of appointments cancelled by the patient or hospital rose from 8.6% to 13.2%, with women far more likely than men to attend appointments.
The figures also showed that five areas of care accounted for 30% of all outpatient appointments last year: trauma and orthopaedics, ophthalmology, physiotherapy, obstetrics and dermatology.
The shadow health minister, Justin Madders, called the figures ‘shocking’, saying that government underfunding had stretched the system to breaking point despite the best efforts of NHS staff.
“Last week Theresa May missed the opportunity to deliver the rescue package that the NHS so badly needs,” Madders said. “Ministers need to stop burying their heads in the sand and face up to the level of the crisis that they have created.”
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