Nearly half a million missed appointments. NHF appeals not to block appointments

According to data from the National Health Fund, in the first six months of this year 457 thousand people from all over Poland did not cancel their appointments with specialists. The largest number (more than 45 percent) of missed appointments, more than 207 thousand, is for orthopedics and traumatology of the musculoskeletal system. 140 thousand from cardiology, nearly 59 thousand from endocrinology, and more than 49 thousand from oncology.

- If we know that we can't show up at the doctor's office for an appointment for an examination, let's cancel it. In this way, we give other patients a chance to get help at a more favorable time," says Malgorzata Kiebzak, director of the Świętokrzyskie Regional Branch of the National Health Fund, which recorded nearly 11,000 non-cancelled appointments in the first half of the year.

- A missed appointment is a lost appointment for another patient. If the absence had been reported in advance, another patient could have received medical attention sooner. Our behavior affects the health of others. Therefore, let's be responsible and if we know we won't show up for an examination, let's cancel it, that way the appointment won't be lost because it will be used by another person on the waiting list," adds Malgorzata Kiebzak.

The National Health Fund is taking part in the educational campaign "I cancel, I don't block." The campaign draws attention to the problem of patients failing to attend medical appointments without cancelling in advance.

It is possible to talk about the first effects of these measures ( nationally, the number of missed appointments in the outpatient clinics of endocrinology, cardiology, oncology and orthopedics and traumatology of musculoskeletal organs in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year fell by about 3 thousand), but the numbers still leave much to be desired.