Anyone who has tried to make an urgent appointment to see their GP knows how precious they are. Most GP practices are very busy. Appointments are booked up days in advance. However, if you are very lucky you might succeed in being slotted into a vacancy created by a cancellation.

That is, of course, if the patient who no longer needs that appointment has bothered to let the practice know. It is staggering that so many fail to do so. Last year more than 12 million GP appointments were wasted nationwide because patients simply didn't bother to turn up, and Bradford people were today reported to be among the worst culprits.

How much effort does it take to pick up a telephone and let the receptionist know that you aren't able to keep your appointment for whatever reason, or no longer need the doctor's help?

It's estimated that each missed appointment costs the NHS £18. That adds up to a staggering amount of money which could have been put instead into hip replacements, heart surgery, cancer treatment or any of the other many areas which are crying out for extra funds.

It also means unnecessary delays, frustration and worry for people who could have taken one of those freed slots if other patients had been less thoughtless and selfish.

As Bradford GP Dr Gyasuddin Sayed points out in the T&A today, healthcare should be a partnership between doctor and patient. Too many patients are not taking their responsibility to that partnership seriously enough.