Missed appointments - 'The NHS cannot afford to waste cash'

IT is staggering to think that around 400 people are failing to turn up for their hospital appointments in the Lothians every day.

When you consider the number of highly-paid specialists and other medical staff who are left kicking their heels whenever a patients fails to materialise, it is easy to see how it leads to an eye-watering 17 million a year bill for the NHS.

Given the current financial climate, we all know that no public service can afford to waste money.

The hard part though is figuring out what to do about it.

After all, the health board has already tried the nanny approach, ringing people up - and even texting them - on the morning of their appointment to remind them that the doctor is expecting them to attend.

They could try doing that for every single patient, but would that really be the best use of their limited resources?

One idea that has been floated is for NHS staff to ring up afterwards and ask for any explanation from those patients who simply fail to show up, in the hope it will embarrass them into not doing it again.

That may seem a bit like scolding them in the same way a parent would a feckless teenager who won't make their bed, but why not when they have behaved little better than a spoiled brat?

Charity concerns

CHILDREN' charities are understandably concerned about the council's plans to cut the number of frontline social workers in our hospitals by more than half in order to save 400,000 a year.

As Children 1st point out, these care workers often play a crucial role in getting help to vulnerable youngsters at the earliest opportunity, a vital first step to ensuring the best possible outcome.

The council is looking at ways of doing more with less, but admit the extent of the proposed cuts will inevitably lead to a reduced service.

One thing you can be sure of, however, is that more proposals in a similar vein will be brought forward very soon.

Every council department is looking at painful options in order to cut the local authority's staffing bill by 12 per cent.

We have to be realistic. It is OK to oppose any of these proposed cuts, but only after accepting that sparing one particular service the axe will mean greater pain elsewhere.