What a missed appointment costs your clinic
A booked slot that goes unfilled still carries its full cost. Set your own numbers below and see what no-shows take from your clinic each month, with the arithmetic in plain sight.
Every clinic loses some appointments to patients who simply do not arrive. The room is staffed, the clinician is present, and the revenue is gone. The default rate here is six percent, which sits inside the commonly reported range for private clinics. Your clinic has its own rate. Put it in and see what the empty slots cost.
12 consultations a day across 5 working days is 260 booked appointments a month. At a 6 percent no-show rate that is 15.6 missed appointments. At £150 a consultation, that is £2,340 lost each month and £28,080 a year.
Reminders, deposits and easy rescheduling all narrow the gap. None of them costs what the empty slots do. For context, wai Clinician is $250 per clinician monthly, published in full on our pricing page. Hold your result next to it and decide for yourself.
Questions about the assumptions
Where does the default no-show rate come from?
Six percent sits inside the commonly reported range for private outpatient clinics. Rates vary widely by specialty, patient mix and booking lead time, so treat the default as a starting point and set your own figure.
Does the figure include late cancellations?
Only if you include them in the rate you set. A late cancellation that cannot be refilled costs the clinic the same as a no-show, so many clinics count both when they measure the problem.
What reduces no-shows?
Three things are consistently reported to help. Reminders sent a day or two ahead, small deposits taken at booking, and rescheduling that takes seconds rather than a phone call. None of them removes the problem entirely, but together they narrow it.