Given the publicity about waiting times for NHS appointments and treatment, it is staggering that some people who have been allocated a slot on the list to see a consultant fail to turn up and don't contact the hospital to explain why.

In some cases there might well be genuine reasons. They might even simply have forgotten. After all, some appointments are for a long time hence and could well slip the mind in the intervening months. But there is still a proportion of people who, for various reasons, find themselves unable to keep their appointments but don't see any need for them to notify the hospital.

That is grossly irresponsible. A consultant's time is costly time to the NHS. It should not be wasted. More important, though, is that failure to attend means that an appointment goes begging which could be allocated to someone else.

Whatever the reasons for missed appointments, it makes sense that Airedale NHS Trust has decided to take responsibility for its patients by contacting them to check whether or not they will be keeping theirs. After a six-month trial, the new system is considered to have proved itself sufficiently to be allowed to continue. It must surely have repaid the wages of the two new clerks in terms of increased productivity at the hospital by enabling gaps in the list to be filled rather than wasted.

A small minority of those who could not be contacted in advance are still missing their appointments, apparently. But the scheme seems to have been a useful move to combat the scandal of wasted NHS time.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.