Missed health appointments in the South West cost over £35.7 million

Each missed appointment costs the NHS £160. That’s according to new analysis of NHS data conducted by business communication specialist Esendex.

The research reveals the huge cost of missed appointments across the health service, with no-shows costing NHS trusts in the South West more than £35.7 million between 2019 and 2024. 

The data was acquired through Freedom of Information requests submitted to NHS trusts across England and Wales. The analysis is based on more than 7.4 million no-shows across 144 trusts that responded to the requests. When applied across all NHS trusts, this total could reach 11.8 million missed appointments, at a total cost to the health service of £1.9 billion every year. 

A regional breakdown of the findings by Esendex did show that the South West had the fewest no-shows last year. In 2024, there more than 37,500 missed appointments, up just 1.44 per cent from the year before, at a total cost of over £6 million.

For comparison, London had the highest number of no-shows in 2024, with over 108,000 appointments not attended, an increase of 34 per cent from the year before and at a total cost of over £17 million.

Chris Gorman, head of commercial transformation at Esendex, said the findings are “incredibly frustrating,” especially for NHS staff on the front line who must deal with the financial and administrative burden of no-shows.

He added: “Every missed appointment will have its own cause, ranging from transport issues or delays, difficulty in getting time off work, or being unable to arrange care at the time of the appointment. 

“Many NHS trusts are already working incredibly hard to reduce the number of DNAs, but a huge number of appointments are confirmed or updated via a letter, which can be easily lost or misplaced. With people leading increasingly busy lives, these more traditional methods of communication can get lost in the battle for attention, regardless of the importance of their contents.

“It’s clear that NHS trusts need to find new and improved ways to reduce the number of no-shows.”

To view the full findings, visit https://www.esendex.co.uk/blog/post/cost-of-missed-nhs-appointments/