HC Deb 16 October 2001 vol 372 cc1047-8
12. Dr. Jenny Tonge (Richmond Park)

What plans he has to reduce the number of patients who fail to keep out-patient appointments. [3775]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Ms Hazel Blears)

As part of the NHS plan, all out-patient appointments will be pre-booked by the end of 2005. Patients will be able to choose well in advance a date and time that is convenient to them.

Dr. Tonge

I thank the Minister for that response. I trust that the trusts that will have to implement the system will receive the finance due to them so that they can do so, and that the Government will be reporting on progress in achieving the targets that they have set themselves. Does the Minister think that, given continuing long waits to see, for example, a consultant or a radiologist in the first place, more should be done to convince patients who miss appointments that they are wasting NHS time and money and making the wait for their fellow patients much longer?

Ms Blears

Yes, the hon. Lady is right to say that more steps need to be taken to convince people about the cost to the service. Many hospitals now publicise such costs so that patients are aware of them. Many also telephone to remind people of their appointments, which often results in tremendous reductions in the number of appointments that are not kept. We are doing what works.

There will be more investment. There is an outline business case for a new electronic system to ensure that all out-patient appointments can be booked in advance. The very best way of getting patients to attend is to involve them in their treatment—for example, so that they feel ownership of their appointment—and to make appointments that are convenient for them, for their child care and for their looking after the rest of the family. That is the way forward.

Mr. Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield)

Is my hon. Friend making excuses for patients? I recently visited a Leeds teaching hospital and was told by the receptionist that 40 per cent. of people with appointments on that day did not show. That is a disgrace and a misuse of the health service. Surely we do not need electronic devices. A simple deposit could be paid to be returned when one showed for one's appointment. Could not we return to some basic common sense in the health service?

Ms Blears

There is clear evidence that electronic booking systems are working. At Sandwell hospital, the percentage of patients who do not appear has fallen from 6 to 1 per cent; in north-west London, the figure has fallen from 13 to 6 per cent; and in Birmingham, the percentage of appointments that patients failed to keep has fallen from 20 to 5 per cent. as a result of electronic booking. As usual, what this Government do is what works.