GP practices across Cornwall are urging patients to cancel unwanted appointments after recent appointment data shows that so far this year 117,000 appointments have been missed.

Almost 15,000 people were no-shows in September alone.

NHS Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly said that in September alone, almost 15,000 people were no-shows, and it now wants to raise awareness of the problem.

Lorna Boulton, reception manager at Atlantic Medical Group in Penzance said: “Our staff are seeing more patients than ever before. But the number of appointments not attended is quite alarming.

“We would much rather someone cancels or rearranges their appointment if they needed to so that another patient can be seen instead. This could make such a big difference to everyone involved.”

The unwelcome trend has been steadily growing. In September 2022, there were 13,450 ‘did not attend’, showing an increase of more than 11% for the same month this year.

Dr Andy Saint is NHS Cornwall’s primary care partner and a local GP. He said: “General practice has never been so busy. Around 110,000 patients see a clinician, face-to-face or by telephone or video, across our county every single week. That’s an average of 2,000 for every GP practice, and roughly three-quarters of that number is face-to-face.

“So, your GP surgery is very much there for you, with a range of experts and appointments to suit all sorts of needs. But I really can’t stress enough how vital it is to cancel your appointment if it no longer suits you.”

The ways to cancel or rebook will vary from practice to practice. Usually, the options range from telephone to online, and some send a link in a reminder text. NHS Cornwall is working with local GP practices to build on the range of options provided.