Almost 800 appointments lost due to people not attending

PEOPLE not attending dental or any other health appointment are putting further pressure on already overstretched services, NHS Shetland warned on Thursday.

Last year a total 785 appointments at the Montfield dental clinic were lost due to patients not attending.

A spokeswoman for the health board said that a total of 361 hours and 25 minutes of valuable clinical time was lost at the Burgh Road site alone.

During this time, a dentist could have carried out 1084 check-ups, 722 fillings or 361 root canal treatments.

The spokeswoman said: “DNAs (did not attend) are a serious problem for the NHS across the whole country.

“For services where demand outstrips availability, people that DNA are stopping someone else from accessing the service. Not only is it wasteful of clinical time, it is also a waste of valuable administrative resources.”

She added: “If you have an appointment for any health or care service and cannot attend for whatever reason, please let us know as soon as possible so we can reallocate the time.”