Time to fine patients who miss vaccines and GP appointments – Yorkshire Post Letters

I REFER to Lesley Skorupka’s letter (The Yorkshire Post, May 8) and can understand her anger when people either refuse to have the vaccine or just don’t turn up for their appointment.

I have long been concerned whenever, thankfully not often, I have tried to book an appointment pre-Covid with my GP, only to find I’ve had to wait a long time before obtaining an appointment.

That concern has turned to anger when eventually sitting in the waiting room and reading the notice on the wall stating how many people have not turned up for appointments during the month and not bothered to notify the surgery. This figure could be in the hundreds. Surely it would be prudent for a member of the reception staff to go through the list at the end of each day to telephone these people to ask for the reason why they didn’t notify the surgery, so that someone else could have taken that slot?

If there is no valid reason, then it should be noted on the computer records and the person concerned should be told that if it happens again, they will be removed from the GP’s list and will not be able to be treated by one of their doctors again.

Either that or face a substantial fine as your correspondent suggested regarding the jabs.

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