Thousands of patients miss ‘life-saving GP appointments
Bury GP Federation figures reveal that despite offering patients seven day access to doctors, more than 4300 evening and weekend appointments were missed in the past year. Using venues across GP practices in Bury, Prestwich and Radcliffe, almost 33,000 ‘extended access’ appointments were made available to offer convenience and choice to patients, but in more than 13% of cases, patients did not attend.
In addition, to ease winter pressures, a further 14,750 face-to-face appointment slots were offered to patients at ‘respiratory hubs’ and ‘surge hubs’ across Bury, Prestwich and Whitefield during the winter months. Established post-pandemic, these clinics supported people struggling with respiratory infections - from coughs, bacterial or viral infections including COVID-19, to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza – and those with acute conditions. But patients missed more than 1000 appointments booked at these winter hubs.
Dr Kiran Patel, Medical Director with Bury GP Federation, and a GP Partner at Tower Family Healthcare, said: “Evening and weekend appointments and those with the ‘hubs,’ are to help our local patient population, so it’s frustrating when people miss an appointment which could have been used by another person. While we appreciate that circumstances can change last minute, we would urge patients to alert their practice as soon as they know they cannot attend an appointment so it can benefit someone else needing medical care.”
Figures from NHS Digital reveal the national picture - 29.7million appointments were estimated to have been delivered by practices and Primary Care Networks in February 2025 with 89.9% of appointments attended.*
Dr Patel added:
With the NHS under increasing pressure – especially during winter – it’s annoying when appointments are wasted. Every appointment is important: it could be potentially life changing.
“We are doing everything we can to support our local communities by providing additional appointments in the evenings and weekends, plus offering extra appointments at clinics to support the winter demands.”
In a bid to try and reduce DNAs (Did Not Attends) Bury GP Federation has also invested in the latest text reminder service for patients and continues to highlight the importance of attending appointments within practices. Dr Patel appealed to patients: “Please help us to help you. Every appointment is precious. If you can’t make it, please let us know so someone else can benefit.”
Appointments in General Practice
The aim of the publication is to inform users about activity and usage of GP appointments historically and how primary care is impacted by seasonal pressures, such as winter.
