A LEADING Hampshire bus company has come on board with a campaign aimed at tackling the thousands of patients who fail to show up for GP appointments every month in Southampton.

Xelabus is renowned for its fleet of green buses carrying thousands of passengers on the county’s roads each day – many who are on their way to their doctor.

Now bosses are backing the Daily Echo’s Turn Up or Tell ‘Em campaign to target the severe problems caused by missed appointments.

Our campaign, in partnership with NHS Southampton City Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), lays bare the impact of how those who fail to show up deprives other injured and sick patients time to see a medic and piles on the pressure for already stretched staff.

Already doctors surgeries, politicians and health experts across Hampshire have joined our cause.

Now Xelabus is promoting the campaign by putting up posters on all of its 35 single and double decker buses operating in the county.

The company is based in Chickenhall Lane, Eastleigh, with its fleet operating routes throughout the borough and Southampton and as far afield as Winchester, Romsey, Bishops Waltham and Fareham.

The firm’s managing director Philip Blair, said: “This is a worthwhile cause. I’ve tried to get doctors appointments and when I’ve heard that there are cancellations and people haven’t turned up it is frustrating. We are happy to lend our support and spread the word.”

The move comes after statistics reveal that 6,300 appointments were missed in Southampton in December 2015 alone – costing the health service a staggering £140,000.

The figures were revealed in a survey by the CCG which manages the NHS money spent in the city and is desperate to tackle the problem.

On average each appointment costs £23, depending on whether GPs or practice nurses are seen and what treatments are administered.

It comes at a time when the health service is struggling with a funding crisis and a shortage in GPs due to doctors retiring and leaving the service faster than they can recruit more.

Across the country 61,000 appointments are lost every day by patients not bothering to show up.

The wasted time is equivalent to a year’s work for 1,300 doctors and costs the NHS more than £300 million.

Daily Echo editor-in-chief Ian Murray, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have Xelabus on board with our campaign. The campaign is already gathering pace and we have had support from many people across the county.

“Carrying the message on their fleet of buses will take it to the next level, reaching thousands of people in Hampshire so they are aware how crucial it is to keep their appointments or remind them to let surgeries know if they can't make it.”