HUNDREDS of doctors appointments have been missed putting a major strain on Catrine and Mauchline surgeries.

The Ballochmyle Medical group hit out after being left wasting almost 1,000 appointments over summer.

Sick residents were forced to wait much longer for appointments after 908 people failed to cancel theirs.

In June, 154 missed their appointment with a doctor while 145 missed their time with a nurse.

Then in July another 154 people failed to show up for the doctor while 120 missed the nurse.

In August the number shot up with 196 people wasting the doctors’ time while 139 people didn’t show up for the nurse.

The Ballochmyle Medical group is now begging residents to be more considerate and cancel their slots if possible so more people in need can be seen to.

It comes as the average waiting time for a routine GP appointment has reached more than two weeks for the first time ever, according to a new survey.

A poll of UK doctors conducted by Pulse, a publication for GPs, found that the average waiting time for patients is now almost 15 days.

Out of the 901 GPs responding to the annual survey, 22per cent said the wait for a routine appointment was more than three weeks, while 6 per cent said it was longer than four weeks.

The survey also found that over 30per cent of responding GPs said their practice’s average appointment wait time was between two and three weeks, with only 20per cent saying the average wait was less than a week.

GP surgeries that reported wait for a routine appointment was more than four weeks.