HUNDREDS of missed GP appointments were recorded across the city in a week with one surgery experiencing a record number of no-shows.

People failed to show up for an appointment more than 600 times in Worcester with Barbourne Health Centre pleading for patients to cancel to free up slots for other people.

Barbourne Health Centre, on Droitwich Road, had a record 40 patients not attend their appointments last week which equates to 8.5 hours of clinician time.

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Debbie Weston, practice manager at Barbourne Health Centre, said there was a number of ways people can let the surgery know if they are unable to make their appointments.

She said: "We are trying to highlight patient failure to attend pre-booked appointments as with current demand it wastes a lot of much-needed appointment time.

"We have phone, text and email access so no reason why patients cannot let us know if they are unable to attend, if they did this it would be very much appreciated."

David McDowell, patient services manager at Worcester City Primary Care Network (PCN) said they know there will be times when patients cannot make it to their booked appointments.

"Some will have reasons they can’t let us know that genuinely can’t be helped.

"However, our PCN as a whole saw over 600 missed appointments in the last week alone—so we’d ask all patients in Worcester City to please let us know if you need to cancel by phone, text, or online as soon as you can so that our practices can give your appointment to a patient who needs it instead.”

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Cllr Neil Laurenson, Worcester city councillor for St Stephen's ward, also stressed how frustrating it must be for the staff at the practice.

He said: "I saw a message about missed appointments at Barbourne Medical Centre. It is obviously very frustrating when someone who is unable to attend an appointment doesn't then contact their GP to let them know and rearrange.

"While it can be difficult to cancel an appointment by telephone, Barbourne Medical Centre has made it possible for people to cancel by other means."