New figures reveal more than one million GP and practise nurse appointments are missed each year at surgeries in the North West.
The Institute of Healthcare Management and Developing Patient Partnerships carried out the survey.
It said the missed appointments were costing the NHS a massive amount of money each year.
Sixty-one per cent of GPs said they thought charging patients for missed appointments would solve the problem.
It is also claimed the problem causes longer waiting times for patients who did turn up for appointments.
One-Minute World News
News services
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version