Did you know that more than 12,000 GP appointments are wasted every month across mid and south Essex?
An estimated 450 hours of GP appointment time per month are going to waste in Basildon and Brentwood alone.
The knock on effect of someone missing their appointment is that some patients who cannot see their GP choose to go to A&E instead and this puts pressure on our hospitals.
There are now many ways of cancelling an appointment, via online services,
telephone and even by text in some areas.
ADVICE:
- Make sure you make a note of your appointment either in a diary, calendar or on your smart phone and ideally set yourself a reminder
- Register for online services, speak to your GP practice about how to do this –
appointments can be easily cancelled at the touch of a button 24/7 - Ask your GP practice if they have a text message reminder service
