SIR – That there have been almost 54,000 missed appointments at Bradford hospitals in a 12-month period beggars belief (T&A, May 21).

While a small number may have a perfectly acceptable reason for missing an appointment, most people are more than capable of phoning to cancel if their appointment cannot be met.

This really cannot be allowed to continue, and we surely need to look at charging a fee for appointments missed without a particularly good reason.

To levy a charge of, say, £10 per missed appointment would have generated around half a million pounds, a sum that would have been hugely useful to our local hospitals, as well as being a deterrent to those involved.

Surely it is time that such a charge was introduced on almost all occasions as soon as possible?

Bob Watson, Springfield Rod, Baildon