More than 2000 people are missing hospital appointments every single week.
Thousands of outpatients at NHS Tayside are failing to turn up to their scheduled appointments, according to the health board.
Each missed appointment costs the health board £151, and causes waiting times to increase.
In the past week alone (July 8 to July 14), 2216 patients missed their outpatient appointment - this is 11.5 per cent of all appointments that week.
And the week before, 2283 patients missed their hospital appointment, which is 12.1 per cent of all appointments available.
NHS Tayside introduced a text reminder system last year to remind patients of their appointment.
The text reminder also encourages patients to contact their outpatient department if they are no longer able to attend their slot to be seen.
A spokesperson for the health board said: “We would urge people to get in contact with us as early as possible if they are unable to attend their appointment for any reason.
“This allows us to rearrange a more suitable date and time for them and give the original appointment to someone else.
“This helps us reduce the number of wasted appointments and means we can make the best use of all of our precious NHS resources.
“A new outpatient text reminder system was introduced in July 2018 to help patients remember their appointment details and reduce the number of missed appointments.
“The service sends text reminders for a number of outpatient services giving details of the appointment and encouraging patients to contact their outpatient department if they can no longer attend.
“Every week, on average more than 2000 people miss their hospital appointment in NHS Tayside, and each missed appointment costs NHS Tayside £151, delays treatment and increases waiting times for all patients.
“Over 204,333 text reminders have been issued to patients since the system was launched and there has been a significant reduction in the ‘did not attend’ rate from an average 12 per cent to 8.5 per cent for those services using text reminders.
“Feedback from patients and staff has also been positive and we aim to roll out the service to more areas where appropriate.”
The spokesperson added: “To receive text reminders, it is important that patients ensure that their mobile phone number is kept up-to-date with your GP practice.”
