SIR – While I appreciate that many people choose to forget/ignore hospital outpatient appointments (T&A June 17), spare a thought for those who do try to cancel.

I recently had to cancel an appointment at St Luke’s because I had been readmitted to BRI for an unrelated reason. The following day I rang to cancel my 10.30am appointment but was unable to get through.

The number was engaged, or I waited a long time with the cost mounting up on my (expensive) Patientline ward phone, only to be told by a machine to try at a less busy time. The obvious answer is more staff and telephone lines available at busy times.

Surely a few more staff hours would far outweigh the huge cost of missed appointments.

Geraldine Dean, Brantwood Grove, Bradford