THERE are plenty of discussions about waiting times to see GPs these days but something seems to have been forgotten.

The vast numbers of people who simply fail to keep their appointments are bound to influence waiting times. For example, at my local medical centre in Heaton during October there were 306 missed appointments. That’s 306 slots that could have been filled by other patients.

Perhaps there should be a “price” if you miss an appointment without a good reason - you don’t get the earliest appointments next time. Otherwise, there’s no penalty and you could just do it again.