Would you be willing to pay if you failed to attend an appointment?

I want to say that I wouldn't be willing to pay, as I occasionally miss appointments myself (usually because I decide last-minute that I can't justify the cost, ironically!), but in reality I know the inconvenience I might cause, and think I should be paying a fee of some kind for doing so.

Once I've missed an appointment somewhere, I never go back anyway. I'm just too embarrassed and worry I'll be recognised.

Yes I would. Unless I have cancelled in good time I think it quite reasonable to have to pay for the appointment. Almost everyone has a mobile phone and to just not turn up is unforgiveable. When I ran a business I always charged cancellation fees - you can't get a re-booking at short notice so you otherwise just loose out.

nope, the nhs is payed for out of peoples tax, i do agree that people shouldnt waste gp's etc time by not turning up, but men for example are bad enough at not going to the doctors with little things and you would decrease the likelyhood further if they might have to pay. :)

Absolutely I would pay. For an NHS appointment, but not attending, and not letting them know you aren't going to attend you are denying someone else the opportunity to attend and increasing the waiting list. I don't think it should be a big charge (perhaps a fiver) but it should make the point that time is money, and that it isn't ok to miss appointments without informing the practice. As for private appointments, how are they supposed to make a living if they don't charge for time? That is the point, you are booking their time and expertise, if you decide not to go to the appointment and not let them know in a reasonable amount of time then that is your problem, not theirs. There are consequences in life. With private professionals there can usually be some flexibility, but that is at their discretion. I certainly wouldn't hold it against someone if they charged me for time I had asked for, but hadn't taken advantage of.

I have had to pay for a physio related appointment that I missed due to a last minute work commitment and I wasn't overly happy about it. But I can see the other side as well in that it was an appointment that could have been taken by someone else and in my situation it was money lost by a private business.

If referring to general NHS appointments then it is a shame that people don't turn up. Usually if you need an appointment yourself you have to wait at least a day. Introducing charges for missing NHS appointments?? Not sure about this as we pay our contributions but others could make use of these appointments. Maybe we need to re-educate ourselves so that we don't take this for granted...

Definitely. But these details should be part of the agreed conditions. If I have an appointment for any treatment I am aware of the penalty if I don't turn up (pay for the appointment), how much I would have to pay if I cancel only a few hours before the appointment (usually 50%), etc. I think it is fair.

That does not mean that I would happy about it, and I would not blame the person for the situation so it would not stop me from going back.

I think it's fair to ask someone to pay for a missed appointment but also agree that it should be part of the conditions so you know exactly what's expected. We do in-house training at my job and if someone doesn't turn up, we charge their department. Unless they're off sick :-)

I definately would far too many people miss appointments if they had to pay then they would think twice about it

Yes especially within the NHS. There is enough waste of time, money and resources in the NHS and to have people failing to attend appointments is unacceptable. You are either ill or not. If not cancel the appointment in plenty of time to allow that appointment to be taken by someone who has a genuine need. Repeat offenders need to be dealt with, however for some financial penalties is not enough and possibly some form of designated exclusion from the doctor's surgery could be looked into.

I think that it's only fair you should have to pay for a missed appointment. It's not like there aren't phones all over the place, as well as mobiles and it is quite easy to let the company know that you are unable to attend. My doctors give you three strikes and if you fail to attend again without informing them, they ask you to go elsewhere.

No I wouldn't and if I were unable to attend an appointment then I would ring and say I wasn't able to attend it. I can understand the frustration and the delay that it causes for people that are waiting for appointments if half the people don't turn up on any given day. Just think about the implications that this may have on people waiting for an appointment. If you can't make it ring up and then the appointment can be given to someone who can make it!!

Yes, I think we should. If you didn't turn up for a lawyer they'd bill you for the time they'd set aside s why shouldn't a health professional. Our doctor's started posting how many missed appointments there were every week and they soon started going down.

I think it's fair if you don't give them enough time to find an alternate appointment. For every service I use, doctors, dentist, opticians etc and if I don't give them more than 48 hours notice before my appointment. This works very well as there is the understanding between the two parties.

I think that we all need to value the NHS and pay for missed appointments that we have not cancelled...I mean what a waste. If there are circumstances that prevented you from attending and can prove it, I do not think you shd have to pay.

I understand that paying a penanlty or fine can be standard procedure in private practice as clearly that is a section of time that they are standing idle without income and that slot could have gone to someone else. It is no different in say the Health Service as (1) everything, but everything costs money ( after all it is a business ) and (2) people are far too complacent about missing an appointment as their only concern is to rebook it. Either way, they are wasting other people's time and commitment and I do think that a non attendance 'fee' may prompt people to be more responsible. It's very much akin to say, charging the gas board when you take a day off for a boiler service and they don't show! All these comments are conditional of course to standard periods of notice either way being observed.

I think it would be very rare for somebody to have a good enough reason for missing an appointment and to be unable to make a phone call and cancel it. Obviously there may be circumstances in which this would happen - but it is unlikely. It's just good manners to cancel an appointment, and so rude to just not turn up!