Star comment: Patients must play their part
The National Health Service does not have money to burn.
It can ill afford the equipment that patients need for essential treatment and it faces constant struggles to meet the wage demands of its staff.
Many NHS trusts are in financial difficulty and the Government faces an uphill struggle to maintain control of health service finances.
Yet the NHS in Shropshire burns £10,000 every day – and patients are to blame. It is a scandal.
People who do not turn up for appointments cost the health service locally more than £3.6 million per year. It is money that could be far better spent on life-saving operations, restorative medication, new facilities or the upgrading of existing buildings.
The NHS is not to blame for such problems – society is. Individuals must take more responsibility and contact their local hospital if they are unable to make an appointment.
Just as customers of a restaurant would never think to simply not turn up if they couldn't make a booking, so patients should also make contact to keep hospitals in the loop.
Surgeons who are left waiting could be putting their time to better use. It is unedifying that they are frequently left twiddling their thumbs because of no-show patients when they could be eating into their waiting list and treating others who need help.
Workers locally are gradually reducing the extent of the problem. They are bringing down the level of waste and ensuring fewer and fewer patients miss appointments. Their pro-active approach in tackling the problem is welcome, though more could be done. At a time when money is very short, the money saved can go towards front line services.
But in the final analysis it is not the hospitals that should be left to contend with the problem. As a society we need to take greater responsibility for our engagement with public services.
There is little point people bemoaning the state of the NHS if they do not do enough to protect it. And one of the simplest things they can do is turn up when they're supposed to.
In the same way that we should not use 999 unless it is an emergency or that we should only order the drugs that we actually need, so we should avoid wasteful appointments.
The NHS is one of Great Britain's finest institutions. It is up to us to treat it with respect.
