Health South-East hospitals face high no-show rates in Norway

In the first half of this year, approximately 111,000 patients failed to show up for their appointments at hospitals in the Health South-East region of Norway. This amounts to nearly 4 percent of patients not attending their scheduled hospital visits across the Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Buskerud, Vestfold, Østfold, Telemark, and Agder areas.

So far this year, nearly 2.9 million consultations have taken place within the Health South-East hospitals. Terje Rootwelt, the director of Health South-East, expressed concern over the high no-show rate, indicating that it hinders hospitals’ ability to treat as many patients as possible. He emphasized the importance of patients attending their appointments, especially as efforts are underway to reduce waiting times.

Rootwelt highlighted that even a minor reduction in the no-show rate could significantly impact hospital capacity. For instance, lowering this rate from 3.9 to 3.6 percent could result in around 17,000 more patients being treated annually, which would greatly alleviate waiting times.

Despite these challenges, the no-show rate has slightly improved in recent years—4.1 percent in the first half of 2023, down from 4.3 percent in the same period of 2022. Rootwelt acknowledged that both patients and hospital staff have become more conscientious, with hospitals implementing reminder systems to help ensure patients attend their appointments.

He stressed the importance of patients notifying the hospitals as early as possible if they cannot keep an appointment, allowing medical staff to accommodate other patients needing care. In the first half of 2024, Vestre Viken Health Agency reported 414,192 consultations, with 17,923 patients not attending.