Practices should take some basic steps to ensure the welfare of patients who repeatedly miss appointments, according to new advice.

Staff should not assume the patient is at fault and should consider whether there are practical problems preventing a patient attending, according to the Medical Defence Union guidance.

Missed GP appointments are thought to cost about £162 million a year – but the MDU warned that in some circumstances doctors could face a complaint for failing to treat a patient simply because they did not attend.

It said that if a serious incident happened and a doctor face a referral to the General Medical Council, they would be expected to produce careful records of correspondence and show the steps that had been taken to check on a patient’s condition.

Memory issues and out-dated contact details could contribute to non-attendance, the MDU says.

Some patients might be reluctant to leave their home – and their might be practical problems with mobility or caring for someone else.

GPs might also consider whether the patient understood the importance of attending, it says.

Dr Ellie Mein, a medico-legal adviser, states in the MDU’s journal: “While GPs cannot compel patients to attend appointments, there are steps they can take to show they have made reasonable efforts to engage and help the patient.

“Legal responsibility for missed appointments inevitably depends on the precise circumstances of each individual case. If there is a claim for compensation, the Bolam test would apply; the GP would not be negligent if their actions didn’t fall below the standard expected of a reasonable GP.”

She adds: “Careful records of correspondence sent to the patient, any discussions with the patient setting out detail of the advice given, and in particular a record of the explanation given to the patient as to why it was important to attend, would help if a problem arises.”