Record number of outpatient appointments missed at Portsmouth Hospitals Trust in 2022/23

It comes as the number of missed appointments across England topped 8 million for the first time in 2022-23.

The Patients Association (PA) said it would like to see "the health service be more curious and compassionate" about patients' absence.

NHS England figures show patients did not attend 42,210 outpatient appointments at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust in 2022-23 – up from 39,830 the year before, and the highest number since comparable records began in 2006-07.

It accounted for 4% of the 1 million total appointments scheduled.

Patients did not attend 8,610 outpatient appointments at Solent NHS Trust in 2022-23 – up from 7,550 the year before, 7% of the 125,445 total appointments scheduled.

Nationally, a record eight million of 124.5 million appointments (6.4%) were missed, the highest proportion since 2017-18 (6.7%).

The PA said there are eight million different stories behind the missed appointments, and called on healthcare professionals to be "curious" about why patients are absent.

Rachel Power, chief executive of the PA, said many patients who miss appointments are at risk of health inequalities.

She said the NHS should focus on making it easier for patients to get to an appointment, with many unable to attend due to caring responsibilities, travel difficulties, or not receiving a reminder if the appointment was booked a long time before.

The figure also showed hospitals cancelled 12.1 million outpatient appointments across the country – a rise of 4% on the year before, and the highest figure since records began, excluding 2020-21, which was affected by the pandemic.

Of these, 19,535 were cancelled by Portsmouth Hospitals Trust and 6,435 cancelled by the Solent Trust.

There were 95.9 million attendances nationally, up on the last two years but slightly below pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, patients contacted hospitals and cancelled 7.9 million appointments, also down on before Covid-19.

At Portsmouth Hospitals Trust, 29,835 appointments were cancelled by patients, while there was a total of 951,345 attendances.

At the Solent Trust, who operate the St James Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital on Portsea Island, the respective figures were 10,970 and 99,430.

An NHS spokesperson said the service is treating record numbers of patients and dealing with ongoing industrial action.

They added: "There are many reasons why patients miss appointments, and so our main message is always it is vital people seek care when they need it.

"But if patients are unable to attend for any reason, we would ask them to let us know so their appointment can be filled by another patient who needs it."