Time-wasting patients are placing more strain on the NHS by not turning up to their GP appointments, damning research suggests.
Frustrated doctors have revealed that around one in 20 of their consultations are 'wasted' by patients who fail to attend.
Around 17 million appointments, which each last for around 10 minutes, are lost on a yearly basis because patients don't turn up, a survey suggests.
Leading medics have branded the figures as 'disappointing', as general practice is already considered to be 'at breaking point'.
Desperate patients now routinely have to wait three weeks to see their doctor, while surgeries are struggling to recruit as GPs leave in droves.
The new poll, undertaken by GPonline - a website aimed at doctors, was based on answers from 217 GP partners. It calculated that the average practice loses 5.1 per cent of appointments each year to patients who don't turn up. However, it believes the figure could be much higher as one in seven GP partners said they lose significantly more than that.
Figures estimate that 340 million appointments are conducted each year. Angry doctors have before demanded that NHS patients should pay for their routine appointments, stating it to be the only way to end the crisis.
Some respondents in the survey suggested a similar practice should be adopted for those patients who repeatedly miss their appointments.
A controversial scheme that sees receptionists screening patients to cut the number of GP appointments has been introduced in recent months to free up doctors' time.
But some believe doctors are to blame. MPs in April warned millions of patients are being denied appointments because surgeries have two-hour lunch breaks.
In a damning report, they said that half of England’s 7,600 surgeries shut down at some point during the core hours of 8am and 6.30pm.
