To think that if you cancel on the day with the NHS, you should be put to the bottom of the list?

This is why you need to charge for NHS procedures. Not the full cost of course, but at least some amount.

As soon as people pay something towards an appointment / consultation/ procedure, they’ll make a lot more effort to turn up for it. And on time.

I was to have a cat scan after my first chemo. I had to cancel on the day as I’d been vomiting for three days straight. I then had to cancel another time because of snow so deep I couldn’t get the car out of the drive. They were not kind on the phone and said I’d be discharged if I cancelled again. Luckily nothing else happened. These were both out of my control.

I worked for the NHS and just recently left.
People do have to understand it's not the case of just going on line to book an appointment.
To set up a clinic involves lots of people,which include , Doctors nurses healthcare assistants , administrative staff,imagining departments and lots more.
Imaging has to be authorised by a qualified health care provider which is usually a consultant,registrar or clinical nurse.
There has to be enough slots in the day for people to be fit in which then has to coincide with their clinic appointment.
I know what the OP means. People have very poor reasons for cancelling their appointments and it beggars belief if you have waited so long why cancel. One can get sick on the day and that is understandable but cancelling because your bus hasn't arrived is foolish.
You are put back on the waiting list and you should get an appointment within the next 6 weeks but if your need is not urgent it can be longer.
All clinics in hospitals are constantly being triaged and if your need is deemed not urgent you're put back.
You have to work in the system to truly understand. It's a constant game of chess and you have to work within the system. It's stressful and god damn tiring for managers to reach government targets and the targets set by your trust.
Please think before you cancel as someone will come along and maybe deemed more urgent than yourself.

Perhaps if people have to reschedule it might be a good idea to ask them if they had any dates to avoid and then they wouldn't have to adjust their plans. I've had reschedule a scan several times (don't worry, I gave them plenty of notice) because it clashed with holidays. It was only on the last occasion that I was asked if there were any dates I couldn't do, previously I was told it would be after a certain date and when the actual appointment came through it was earlier and wasn't suitable.

Charge them

Yes I think no shows should be charged a fee - it costs £60 for every missed appointment in figures that were published last year if I recall? Of course there will be excusable reasons - that can be proven. However as a society we have to cover the cost for people ‘forgetting’ or just not showing up for a variety of reasons.

I had a private appointment as NHS was such a long wait. I stupidly put it in my calendar for the wrong date so missed it. I had to pay £45 and then rebook and pay the consultation fee for the followup. Entirely my fault and stupid of me, I paid as I should have as people along the line had time and resources wasted.

@jamimmi

How many clinics do you hold per week?
Do you work for the NHS full time?
Do you do any private work?
How average do you think your schedule is compared to consultants overall?

Quite often clinics are deliberately overbooked to account for the amount of DNAs but then sometimes everyone turns up!!!
where I work we have a very high number of people just not turning up but it someone phones to cancel, even on the day, then of course we rebook them (with a thank you for actually calling)

What a strangely vague post!
Are you an NHS worker lamenting missed appointments? What department are you in? Are you talking about operations or just general appointments?
It’s annoying especially considering the waiting lists, but surely if the NHS are as busy as they claim to be it’s just on to the next one on the list. You get paid either way.

Just finished my am clinic. Out of 10 appointments 3 didn't attend. The appointments were follow ups all made in the last 6 weeks all timed and dated at the last appointment. The 9am rang at 11 to say she was unwell, fine but the train tannoy in the background made us wonder! She will be rebooked, the other 2 will recived letters asking them to contact us to rebook, some will. No contact 4 weeks post letter and they are discharged. I have a 9 month waiting list , including patents who will come at short notice. To those of you moaning we don't take your needs into account, even when we do this is the result . This is healthcare not a hairdresser and unfortunately to keep up efficiency we cant always flex how we would like. And for those curious I don't work Friday pm so am currently not wasting taxpayers money.

They are getting rid of admin staff; there aren’t any left to answer the phone!! Everything will all be done digitally via apps etc. and apparently it’s tough shit if you are elderly and / or can’t work an app.

But hey, the admin staff are useless and incompetent so they aren’t needed, right?

Yup, our GP surgery is like that. They hound you with texts telling you to go onto the NHS app to make an appointment, but when you do there are no appointments available. I have it every year for my annual diabetic review. A few weeks after it was due and still no appointment made, they phone you and every time they've done it, when they log in, they can't give you an appointment either as there are none. Rather than waste their time, you'd think they'd check the system before phoning a patient just to make sure there are appointments available!

The the NHS need to answer the phone and/or put a working phone number at the top of appointment letters. What are patients supposed to do if it's impossible to phone the NHS to cancel/rearrange?

Well I've had a letter inviting me to book an appointment online on a few occasions but when I've logged in there's never ever been appointments available!! At any location, on any date, so then you have to request to go on their waiting list.
Then I get emails asking me if I still want to stay on waiting list.
6 months later I've been telephoned and offered an appointment at a different location.
Booking online would be a dream IF it actually worked.

Is it a hysteroscopy? If so, maybe this will be reassuring. I had also read horror stories before I had one but it really wasn't too bad - and since I haven't had children I was in the category where it is sometimes more challenging. The staff took lots of time to explain it, and reassured me that if at any time it was too painful, I could always ask to stop and come back for an appointment under general anaesthetic. I would say it was no worse than bad period cramps. Please don't be too scared!

It is out of order. Do they not bump you way down if you do this? And if you do it twice they kick you off the service and back to the GP?

So essentially they are bumping you to the bottom again if you do it twice. I guess they could if you did it once but people are sick. They do need a little leeway.

But doing a no-show and not even calling after the event should get you kicked off back to the GP. Unless you were genuinely seriously unwell.

Well lucky you for not having severe anxiety. In my experience nhs services who should be preempting reasonable adjustments don't bother. maybe they'd have less no shows if they did what they're meant to?

As I've pointed out, there was no time to get a taxi. There was nothing available.

I also needed to try to contact the hospital to let them know I was delayed but just got a recorded message saying that the department was shut. Like so many others, I found the alternate number they gave didn't work.

It's all very well saying get a taxi. Sometimes that option isn't possible but you obviously don't know that as you have been so dismissively glib with your response.

And no, I couldn't have got a train either. The station is several miles away and I can't walk that far.

As I've explained to other PPs. there wasn't time to get one. Our taxi service is not very good.

You mean, only share opinions that you or the OP like? No thank you. Disagreeing doesn't make ne unfair or rude. Certainly no ruder than the OP was.

True that @TickyandTacky went further than I would have done with her comments but plenty of us on here have taken issues with OP's comments too.

OP did ask for opinions, but in a way that only saw things in black and white, was rather self righteous and wanted full validation for herself. People have rightly been pointing out the many nuances of the situation and the many significant problems they have encountered with NHS admin which have often in themselves contributed to missed appointments.

Only then did OP begin to backpedal just slightly (and reluctantly).

Depending on the procedure YABU. Unless you've been in that situation you can't know how stressful - it, and the recovery - might be. Especially depending on people's circumstances.

I do take your point though and it's just putting it off.

No. I just get a letter.

they’re not in the nhs app or on that patient portal either. I check both regularly.

I don’t get text reminders. I don’t get phone calls. Nothing. Just a letter.

A). I think it’s reasonable that people who mess the NHS around are put to the lowest priority. Not cancelled - just moved down the list.
B) Sorting out NHS admin would help everyone.

That's unfair and rude. The OP has an opinion and is asking for other people to add their thoughts. It's the whole premise of this site.

I do think that serial non attendees should be fined as a deterrent but not the first time because anyone can be experiencing a crisis or transport troubles as a one off.