To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to address the effects of missed appointments on primary care services.

We recognise that missed appointments are a waste of National Health Service resources. We believe that encouraging patients to use the NHS sensibly and responsibly is the right approach and we are supportive of local schemes to highlight the number of missed appointments to their patients. However, it is ultimately a matter for the local NHS and primary care providers to decide how best to raise awareness and implement measures to reduce missed appointments.

Primary care providers are encouraged to offer patients different ways to book appointments, send appointment reminders by text messages, and make it quick for patients to cancel or re-arrange appointments e.g. through the use of an online service.