A Norfolk medical centre is urging patients to cancel unwanted appointments after revealing the extent of the problem.
Wymondham Medical Centre, on Postmill Close, said in the four months between January and April 2019, there were 839 instances of people failing to attend or cancel their appointment.
It said that this worked out at around 140 hours of wasted GP time.
In a report released by the NHS at the start of the year, it was estimated that each missed appointment costs the service £30.
In a post on the surgery's Facebook page, a spokesman wrote: 'Every missed appointment is an appointment we could have given to someone else.
'We understand that sometimes things happen which are out of your control and can not be avoided but if you know you cannot make an appointment, please cancel it via text response to your text appointment reminder, via your online access, face to face at front reception or via the telephones.'
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