If an appointment is cancelled it can be assigned to another patient. sur

Patients at Malaga-Guadalhorce health centres miss over 5,000 appointments each month

The Andalusian Health Service has begun a campaign to get people to cancel rather than just not turn up, to avoid delays and so that other patients can be given their appointments

Ángel Escalera

Malaga

Friday, 14 October 2022, 09:45 | Updated 11:36h.

Each month an average of 5,167 appointments are missed by patients at the 33 medical centres in the Malaga-Guadalhorce health district and the authorities are calling on patients to cancel if they find they are not going to be able to attend, so those appointments can be used by others.

Posters are now being displayed in health centres to explain how to cancel an appointment and there are three ways of doing so: by phoning Salud Responde (955 545 060), via the Internet on Clic Salud or by phoning the health centre.

To cancel an appointment with a GP or pediatrician, patients only need to give their identification details. To change or cancel a hospital appointment they need to have a digital certificate and to do the same for an X-ray or scan they should phone the number on the letter they were sent to confirm the day and time of their appointment.

“When people make an appointment and then don’t turn up it causes more delays,” say health service sources. In the Malaga-Guadalhorce district it means that an average of 165 appointments are wasted each month at each health centre.