More than 5,500 outpatient appointments in Guernsey missed last year

Guernsey Hospital
Around 6% of appointments were either not attended or cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice in 2023. Credit: ITV Channel

Guernsey's health department is urging residents to help cut down on the thousands of missed appointments recorded each year.

A total of 5,589 appointments were either not attended or cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice in 2023, according to Health and Social Care (HSC) and the Medical Specialist Group (MSG).

MSG Chair Dr Steve Evans said: "It’s really important that we make best use of our consultants’ time so that they can see as many patients as possible and reduce waiting times."

Around 6% of adult appointments were either not attended or cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice in 2023.

For paediatric appointments, approximately one in ten appointments were missed.

Physiotherapy appointments have also seen high levels of non-attendance, with 1,234 missed appointments (approximately 9%) recorded last year.

HSC President Deputy Al Brouard said: "Non-attendance is far more challenging to manage than cancelling or re-arranging ahead of time.

"If adequate notice is given, the appointment can be reallocated to another patient who needs our help.

"If we could really cut down on the thousands of missed appointments then it would have an obvious knock-on benefit to our efforts to maximise the capacity our services have, particularly ensuring clinicians’ time is not wasted."

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our podcast to find out What You Need To Know...