MORE than 40,000 patients failed to turn up for appointments at three county hospitals last year.

They are wasting one in 10 appointments, putting a huge strain on waiting lists and depriving others of swifter treatment, say health officials.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust spokesman Richard Haynes said more than 10 per cent of 300,000 patients with follow-up appointments did not appear or bother to cancel their dates at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Kidderminster Hospital, and the Alexandra, in Redditch.

And 10,000 of the 100,000 people with outpatient appointments also failed to attend, at a cost estimated by the Evening News to be around £250,000 a year.

"The major cost of this is to other patients who are being deprived of quicker treatment," he said. "The clinic time and theatre time is being completely wasted.

"Each wasted appointment means someone on the waiting list has to unnecessarily wait longer."

Now patients are being urged to inform hospitals if they plan to fail to attend an appointment in a bid to lessen waiting times and save the hospitals cash.

He said the trust had created a new telephone appointments office to make it easier for patients to contact the right people to cancel their appointments.

The service already operates successfully in Kidderminster and will be extended to Worcester patients in a few weeks.

The hospitals have also started writing or phoning patients to see if they still wanted to be on the list.

"A surprising number no longer need appointments or operations, but they forget to tell us. It has really made a big difference."

He said a new national initiative, whereby patients could choose appointment times and dates when they reach the top of the waiting list, had also started in Worcestershire.

"We really hope that, together, the patients, clinical staff, managers and administration staff will improve the waiting times and the Worcestershire health service overall."