Patients have rejected accusations that they are wasting £1 billion of public money by missing hospital appointments
writes
Chris Smyth, Health Editor at the Times,
arguing that the NHS needs to stop sending them inconvenient times by post.
Doctors also said that drunks and people with minor problems
contribute little to overcrowding in A&E, which they said was caused
mainly by sick patients needing beds.
It
came after Jane Cummings, the chief nursing officer for England, said
the NHS was “under pressure as never before” as she called for the
public to be more responsible about wasting time and resources as the
service heads into what is likely to be the busiest week of the winter.
