GP leaders have appealed to patients to notify practices when they cannot attend appointments – as the number of missed appointments begins to climb.

The Royal College of GPs stopped short of backing calls for patients to be charged if they miss an appointment, warning of “unintended consequences.” The latest data shows that 1.04 million patients were recorded as not attending appointments in April and 1.29 in March. Before the pandemic, in January 2020, the number was close to 1.3 million – but then fall before climbing again this year. It represents about 5% of booked appointments.

Royal College of GPs chair Professor Martin Marshall said a missed appointment could indicate a more serious problem – and that practices might need to investigate why a patient did not attend. In other cases, a patient might feel the appointment was no longer needed.

He said: “It might not seem like a big deal to miss a ten-minute appointment, but the unintended consequences are that other patients are being kept waiting.Practice teams work hard to ensure patients are aware of their appointments by sending reminders by text and email or encouraging them to manage their appointments online or through the NHS app.

“Our plea is for patients who are able to, and who no longer need their appointment, to contact the surgery as soon as they can to let them know they won’t be attending, so that consultations can be offered to other patients. Ultimately, the bigger issue affecting patients’ ability to access GP care and services is the workload and workforce pressures family doctors and our teams are working under.”