Wasted time

MORE than 11 million primary care appointments have been missed in the past year when patients failed to turn up.

The El Pais newspaper has made the calculation on figures supplied by regional health authorities.

It says the actual total is higher because five regions (Asturias, the Canary Islands, Madrid, the Basque Country and Navarra) have not supplied data, either because they do not monitor missed appointments or

11 Million Doctor Appointments Missed In Just A Year

By Alex Trelinski

refused to provide information.

“At the management level, these figures reveal an inefficiency of the system and is a waste of a very valuable asset for the health system: namely the time of the doctors,” said the vice-president of the Spanish Society