Kids missing hospital dates

Missed hospital appointments are costing the Waikato District Health Board $192,500. Photo / Thinkstock

Children are missing out on important hospital appointments, according to information from a transport trial.

In the first three months of the year-long trial almost 7300 appointments were booked at Waikato and Thames hospitals but 10 per cent of them were not kept, costing the Waikato District Health Board $192,500.

A high number of the 10 per cent were appointments for children.

The trial, which began in July, is aimed at giving health bosses a better idea of the transport situation for patients travelling from the Coromandel, Thames and Hauraki regions.

Thames Hospital service manager Jacquie Mitchell said a working party in charge of the trial planned to find out why children were not making the appointments. "What is concerning the working party is that a disproportionate number of the appointments that are not kept are for children."

Thames Hospital staff did everything they could to notify patients of appointments including sending a letter, texting and phoning, she said.

A Waikato DHB spokeswoman said the board's paediatricians travelled to Thames for the clinic appointments, which spanned all specialties.

Last year the DHB had more than 20,000 "did not attends" which cost it $3.11 million and from July to September this year 6056 people did not turn up, costing $908,400.

Community transport operators in the region drove 2062 people and travelled 425,049km in the year to last June.