More than 12,000 Isle of Man GP appointments missed last year

About 48 appointments a day were missed between April 2021 and March 2022

More than 12,000 GP appointments on the Isle of Man were missed in the last financial year, costing Manx Care an estimated £470,000.

The health operator has revealed an average of 48 people a day did not attend scheduled trips to see a doctor between April 2021 and March this year.

Associate Director of Primary Care John Snelling said the figures were "shocking" and would anger the public.

Missed appointments waste clinical time and cause delays for others, he added.

A Manx Care spokeswoman said the rate of people not attending appointments had continued into this financial year, with more than 7,000 missed between April and September.

The issue was a "huge concern" across the island's 11 GP practices, leading to extended waiting times for other patients and pressure on other services, she added.

"Frustrated"

Each missed appointment is estimated to cost Manx Care £38, with one surgery recording a high of 500 people not attending in March this year.

Dr Snelling said that led to times where "highly trained clinicians are sitting twiddling their thumbs".

"It makes them frustrated, and it makes the system grind more slowly," he added.

Dr Snelling has urged anyone who cannot make an appointment to let their GP know, and reminded the public that they can now use text messages and other means to contact their local surgery.

But he acknowledged there were problems speaking to GPs over the phone due to high demand.

First thing in the morning was "always going to be intensely busy", so patients should consider calling later in the day or using alternative means, he said.