CALLS TO FINE PATIENTS WHO MISS GP VISITS

Fury as surgery no-shows cost NHS £175m in 4 months

- Giles Sheldrick

MILLIONS of wasted GP have sparked appointments calls for patients to be fined if they fail to show up.

Almost four-and-a-half million consultation slots have been recorded as "did not attends" this year, costing the cash-strapped NHS about £175million £1.4million a day.

In all, there have been 37,379 missed appointments a day, shocking NHS data has revealed. The scandal comes as sick and frustrated patients complain at being unable to secure appointments, with waits of several weeks common for a non-urgent GP visit.

Dr Sarah Jarvis, a GP and clinical director, said such cases were "incredibly frustrating" when family doctors are under intense pressure.

She said: "GP appointments are very precious because there aren't enough of us.

"If people choose to make an appointment and then not turn up, that's an appointment that could have gone to somebody else."

Dr Jarvis said she supported in principle the idea of fining patients a small amount - such as £5 or £10 for wasting doctors' time.

She said: "I've always been vehemently against the idea of fining people for using the NHS, but I think that's very different to fining people for abusing the NHS.