Bradford people are amongst the worst culprits for missing doctors' appointments, a survey has revealed.

An average of nine GP appointments a week per surgery are missed in the region, compared to just four in the South East.

And surgeries are left counting the cost, according to a national study of over 600 practices.

Last year more than 12 million GP appointments at £18 each were missed in Britain costing the health service an estimated £250 million.

Dr Gyasuddin Sayed of Smith Lane surgery in Heaton said people who miss appointments make waiting times longer for everyone else.

He said: "When patients don't turn up without bothering to let us know, they waste surgery time that could have been given to someone else."

And 90 per cent of GPs who took part in the survey carried out by Developing Patient Partnerships and the Institute of Healthcare Management agreed that waiting times would be shorter if people did not miss appointments. More than two thirds of those questioned also thought patients should be made to pay the cost.

But Dr Sayed disagreed. He said: "I don't think patients should be charged for missing appointments. That will spoil the taste of the health service. But patients need to take responsibility and let surgeries know in good time."

Dr Maggie Helliwell, medical director of Airedale Primary Care Trust agreed.

She said: "I do not believe it would be helpful to introduce charges as this would be almost impossible to enforce and would not improve patient and GP relationships."

Dr Sayed said patients could help by letting surgeries know in good time if they were unable to attend.

He said: "Ringing us an hour before is no good. We need to know at least two days before so we can offer that appointment to someone else."

"Healthcare should be a partnership between a doctor and his patient. But both need to work together if it is to work well."