THE impact on waiting lists through patients missing physiotherapy appointments is the focus of a new awareness drive.

Last month, 29 patients failed to turn up to their first outpatient physio appointment at the Alexandra Hospital and 118 cancelled appointments at too short a notice for the slots to be refilled.

This led to a significant loss of 58.6 hours of treatment time for the month, equating to 88 patients being left on the waiting list when they could have been seen.

Various strategies have been tried to address the problem, including weeks when only new patients are seen, bringing waiting times back to an average of 12 weeks.