"Trusts are continually rearranging appointments as capacity changes."
- Dawn Prescott - The Exeter
New Freedom of Information analysis by The Exeter has found that over 62,500 outpatient appointments were brought forward across NHS trusts as services aim to make the best use of available capacity.
The wider research, based on responses from 35 NHS trusts between 2024 and 2026, also found more than 4.1 million hospital-initiated cancellations across 33 trusts, reflecting the scale and complexity of managing outpatient services.
At St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 37,620 appointments were moved to an earlier date, while over 17,000 appointments were brought forward by the NHS Trusts for Lewisham, Greenwich, Norfolk and Norwich University hospitals.
The Exeter says these figures show how available capacity can be used to shorten waits for some patients, with trusts taking proactive steps to make the best use of available appointments and managing significant demand.
Regarding cancelled appointments, patients were often given advance notice, with cancellations communicated an estimated 43 days before the original appointment date on average across 24 trusts. However, this measures notice, rather than how long patients waited for a replacement appointment.
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"A cancelled appointment can understandably create uncertainty for someone waiting for care, but these figures also show how much work is going on behind the scenes to keep appointments moving," Dawn Prescott, head of healthcare proposition at The Exeter, said.
"Trusts are continually rearranging appointments as capacity changes, and in some cases that is allowing thousands of people to be seen earlier than originally planned.
"Private healthcare can play an important role alongside the NHS by giving people additional ways to access care when they need it. It is about giving people greater choice and helping them take a more proactive approach to their health, while complementing the care already being delivered by the NHS."
