The missed appointments have resulted in a significant loss to the budget over the period. 

Now, the Trust has asked for greater co-operation in a bid to reduce non-attendance so “valuable resources and staff time is not wasted”. 

The Trust’s figures run for the 2019 calendar year and take into account patients who did not attend their outpatient appointment, or failed to give staff sufficient notice to make the appointments available to other patients. 

Across the Western Trust 9,260 such appointments were missed. 

Each missed appointment costs the Trust £170, which equates to £1.5millon lost to the health and social care budget in 2019.

Geraldine McKay, Director of Acute Hospitals for the Western Trust said, “We understand that there are many genuine reasons why people are not able to make an appointment however, as these figures show every missed appointment is a lost opportunity for someone else to be seen. 

“The appointment slot is an actual time with a member of our clinical and nursing staff who are dedicated to patient care.

“Therefore, for 2020 we are asking for the public’s co-operation in reducing non-attendance for hospital outpatient appointments so that valuable resources and staff time is not wasted, as this will have a significant impact on already over stretched health service.”