University Hospitals Tees is urging all patients to get in touch if they are unable to make their outpatient or surgery appointment to ensure hospital dates are not wasted.
The hospital group – a partnership of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – has seen 70,592 outpatient and 2,469 theatre appointments wasted in the last nine months due to patients not turning up for their appointment or cancelling the night before/day of their surgery.
Any patients struggling to get to hospital because of financial reasons are also encouraged to get in touch to see if they are eligible for travel expenses.
Austin Mathews, consultant anaesthetist and theatre lead at North Tees and Hartlepool, said:
“Our services are currently experiencing lots of patients not turning up without contacting us first and, at the same time, we are receiving lots of requests to bring appointments forward.
“A lot of preparation goes on behind the scenes to make sure we have the right team and the right set of equipment and facilities are available on the day, so if a date has been confirmed for your operation, please do try your best to come in.
“However, we understand there are genuine reasons why people are unable to attend and need to reschedule, so if that is the case, please do contact us as soon as possible so we can offer that slot to someone else on the waiting list.”
One group of patients really feeling the impact of wasted appointment and theatre times are those waiting to be seen or treated for endometriosis at South Tees Hospitals.
Jo Jordan, general manager for obstetrics and gynaecology at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said:
“Within our department, we are experiencing lots of patients not turning up for their clinic appointments and on the same hand, seeing a huge increase in the number of requests to be seen sooner, particularly those experiencing symptoms of endometriosis and other similar conditions.
“The effective management of those chronic conditions rely on patients being seen and treated as soon as possible; therefore, we need patients who are unable to make their appointments to let us know in advance so that these appointments can be reallocated to help other patients move up the waiting list and be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible.”
Cancelling or rearranging your appointment
Any patients needing to cancel or re-arrange their appointment can use the contact details listed on their appointment letter.
Alternative ways to cancel or rearrange
- South Tees patients can rearrange or cancel their appointment using the online form on the website
- North Tees and Hartlepool patients can access the online directory which provides contact numbers for every department