Hospital outpatients: Men in their 20s fail to attend one in six appointments

February 13, 2013: Men in their 20s miss considerably more outpatient appointments compared to women of the same age, Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) figures show.

Hospitals in England recorded almost one in six appointments for men aged 20 to 29 (15.8 per cent, or 415,000 out of 2.6 million) as unattended (known as Did Not Attends, or DNAs) in the 12 months to October 2012.

This compares to one in 11 appointments missed by women of the same age (9.2 per cent, or 640,000 out of 7.0 million).

A similar pattern occurred among patients aged 30 to 39. Men did not attend 13.1 per cent of outpatient appointments (411,000 out of 3.1 million appointments), whereas for women this figure stood at 7.5 per cent (600,000 out of eight million appointments).

The percentage of male outpatients failing to attend appointments was higher than for female outpatients for all age groups between 10 to 14 years and 75 to 79 years - with a similar pattern seen in the previous 12 month period.

Today's figures are part of a special topic on outpatient data, presented as part of the monthly provisional Hospital Episode Statistics publication released today, which shows outpatient activity data broken down by patient demographics, region and consultant specialty.

The report also shows that in the 12 months to October 2012, for all attendances:

• Of the 92.9 million outpatient appointments in total; 74.5 million (80.1 per cent) were attended (the remaining 19.9 per cent includes both patient and hospital cancellations as well as DNAs)⁴
• Men in the 65 to 69 age group had the highest number of attendances (3.0 million out of 30.8 million male appointments attended). For females, outpatient attendance was highest in 30 to 34 year olds (3.5 million out of 42.8 million female appointments attended) - this was largely due to obstetric and gynaecological appointments.

And for DNAs specifically, in the 12 months to October 2012:

• London Strategic Health Authority (SHA) had the highest percentage of appointments that were DNAs - at 9.5 per cent (or 1.6 million out of 16.3 million).
• The East of England SHA had the smallest percentage of appointments that were DNAs, at 5.8 per cent (or 580,000 out of 10.0 million appointments).
• Regionally, compared to the same period a year earlier, there was an overall small decrease (0.4 per cent) in DNAs. Yorkshire and the Humber SHA was the only region to record an increase (0.2 percentage points to 7.4 per cent).

HSCIC Chief Executive Tim Straughan said: "While missed outpatient appointments are evident across every age group, it appears men in their 20s are the chart-toppers for not turning up to these. Our figures show however that the general percentage of outpatient appointments missed across the country has decreased slightly. Managing DNAs is one way the NHS can increase productivity."

The full report can be viewed http://www.hscic.gov.uk/pubs/provisionalmonthlyhes1213

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. HSCIC was previously known as the NHS Information Centre. It is England's authoritative, independent source of health and social care information. It works with a wide range of health and social care providers nationwide to provide the facts and figures that help the NHS and social services run effectively. Its role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researchers, regulators and policymakers in their work. The HSCIC also produces a wide range of statistical publications each year across a number of areas including: primary care, health and lifestyles, screening, hospital care, population and geography, social care and workforce and pay statistics.

2. HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. The quality and coverage of the data have improved over time. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. Some of the increase in figures for later years (particularly 2006-07 onwards) may be due to the improvement in the coverage of independent sector activity. Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example, a number of procedures may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and may no longer be accounted for in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time.

3. Figures over one million have been rounded to the nearest 100,000. Figures under one million have been rounded to the nearest 1,000.

4. Definitions for attendances, did not attends, patient and hospital cancellations are;

- Attendances - having attended on time or, if late, before the relevant care professional was ready to see the patient

- Did Not Attend (DNA) - no advance warning given or patient arrived late and could not be seen

- Patient cancellations - appointment cancelled by, or on behalf of, the patient

- Hospital cancellation - appointment cancelled or postponed by the health care provider

- References to missed appointments, failure to turn up or unattended refer to DNA.

5. HES figures for outpatient attendances include people living outside England but who were treated in the English NHS.

6. For media enquires please call 0845 257 6990 or email media@hscic.gov.uk