Additional measures to be imposed for hospital appointment no-shows

ANKARA

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has announced additional measures against patients who fail to attend their appointments at state hospitals, including a restriction that prevents them from scheduling another appointment in any department for 15 days.

Speaking at a press conference on April 17, Koca reminded that previously, those who did not show up for their appointments were banned from scheduling a new one in the same department for 15 days, stating that the scope of this regulation would be expanded.

Patients will be required to confirm their attendance via phone, message or application by 11:59 p.m. the day before their appointment, Koca said, adding that failure to do so will result in the appointment being canceled to allow the doctor to meet with another patient at that time.

Furthermore, if a patient fails to show up for their appointment twice despite confirmation, they will be prohibited from booking appointments in any medical specialty for 15 days—a widening of the previous restriction which only banned booking appointments in the same department.

"Twenty-five million citizens have canceled their appointments at the last minute. Due to our inability to fill these gaps with new appointments, 17 million appointment slots remain unused. To utilize this spare capacity, we will require confirmation of attendance for appointments,” the minister said.

"Appointment holders will need to confirm by 11:59 p.m. the day before their appointment. For unconfirmed appointments, we will offer the slot to another patient."

This initiative is projected to increase the service rate for appointments by 20 percent, Koca said, noting that additional measures would be implemented for patients who repeatedly fail to attend their appointments in the future.

Nearly 23 million people failed to attend their appointments after booking them in 2023, the minister said, noting that the figure is 6 million for the first three months of this year.