Tens of thousands of NHS appointments have been missed or cancelled over the past five years, figures have revealed.

Data obtained from a Freedom of Information request to Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust found more than 50,000 of the trust’s community health appointments have been cancelled or missed at Upton Hospital alone since 2018.

However, the figures also showed a drop-off during and after the Covid pandemic, with the highest numbers of both cancellations and no-shows at Upton Hospital falling in 2019.

In addition, more than 6,000 mental health appointments were missed at Upton across the same time period.

The data also showed that nearly 1,500 mental health and more than 300 community health appointments with the trust were cancelled or missed at Wexham Park Hospital during same the five years.

However, these figures do not include appointments for NHS Frimley Health Foundation Trust appointments, so the full numbers are likely to be higher.

New Horizons, the base of Slough’s community mental health team, also saw more than 18,000 cancelled and missed appointments according to the trust figures.

A trust spokesperson said: “We arrange a large number of appointments across our services and endeavour to provide patients plenty of notice of when appointments are made.

“We understand that not everyone can make the appointment time they are given, and sometimes there are other factors which may cause people to miss appointments such as caring responsibilities, transport issues or not being able to get time off work.”

It comes at a time when the NHS on a national level is facing high levels of pressure, with waiting lists for hospital treatment in England standing at more than 7.5 million.

The spokesperson added: “We ask that if you are unable to attend your appointment, please contact us as soon as possible to reschedule it so that we can ensure you receive the treatment you need without delay. It also enables us to free up the slot for another patient who may urgently need to see a clinician.”

NHS appointments can be cancelled or amended via phone, text or email – with these details typically included in the appointment invitation.