Dunedin residents are the least likely to show up for hospital appointments of any territorial authority in Otago and Southland, figures show.
Southern District Health Board hospital appointment data shows that whether they were supposed to attend Dunedin, Wakari, Southland, Lakes District, or Gore hospitals, Dunedin residents had the highest rate of non-attendance.
Figures released under the Official Information Act, covering July 1, 2010 to April 29, 2011, took the board more than two months to compile.
Dunedin residents missed 8.2% of appointments at Dunedin and Wakari hospitals; Queenstown Lakes residents missed 6.3%; Clutha, 6.2%; Waitaki, 5.4%; Central Otago, 5.4%; Invercargill, 4.7%; Gore, 4.7%; and Southland 3.8%.
For appointments at Southland, Lakes District, and Gore hospitals, Dunedin's rate of non-attendance was again highest, at nearly 10%, followed by Waitaki, 9.9%; Clutha, 9.7%; Central Otago, 8.1%; Gore, 7.9%; Invercargill, 6.2%; Queenstown Lakes, 5.9%; and Southland 5.3%.
The Otago Daily Times has excluded figures pertaining to patients from other territorial authorities, who are sometimes treated by Southern, as the numbers involved are small.
By department, diabetology patients at Dunedin or Wakari were the least likely to show, at 15.2% non-attendance, whereas only 1.8% of oncology patients did not attend.
In Southland, Lakes District, and Gore, nearly 20% of patients did not attend dental appointments, with just 0.1% not attending public health nurse appointments.
Chief operating officer (Otago) Vivian Blake said missed appointments were a waste of time and resources.
However Southern's rate of non-attendance was not high compared with some other District Health Boards where rates of 20% had been recorded.
Cellphone text messaging was increasingly used to remind people of appointments, she said.
Mrs Blake was unsure why Dunedin residents had the highest non-attendance rate in Otago and Southland.
It was expected that departments treating serious illness would have the highest rates of attendance, she said.
