THE revelation that 43,735 people missed hospital appointments in Huddersfield and Calderdale is staggering.

And, even worse, it means that £3.3m has been completely wasted with each appointment reckoned to cost on average £75.

Some people will have genuine reasons for missing their set date and time.

But there will be others who, quite frankly, couldn’t be bothered to turn up or let staff know so they could try to reschedule another patient in.

Every time someone does that they let society down.

How many people wait for months for an appointment which could mean the matter between life and death while there are others slowing the whole system down by their irresponsibility?

It is a terrible waste of staff time and NHS resources, especially now when every penny counts.

It may be because the service is free that some take advantage of it.

Perhaps it’s time to take tough action against those who miss appointments for no good reason.