A GP surgery in Eltham is taking a stand against patients who miss their appointments by publishing the number of missed appointments each week.

Sherard Road Medical Centre has started adding up the number of missed appointments each week at the surgery, to show patients the importance of cancelling appointments they can no longer attend.

According to the notice, the surgery saw a total of 102 appointments missed between Friday, June 29 and Friday, July 6. This included emergency appointments.

Joanna Tew, a patient at Sherard Road, told News Shopper: "I do often have difficulty in obtaining an appointment.

"It's generally a 2-3 week wait for a routine appointment and often we have to travel to the Kidbrooke centre to see a GP and not our closest surgery, which when you are feeling ill isn't helpful."

She added she was concerned about pressure mounted on GP surgeries and criticised patients who miss appointments for their "lack of awareness and consideration."

Staff at Sherard Road hope the scheme will make people more considerate about making appointments in future.

HR manager Lindsay McIntyre said: "We were concerned about the amount of appointments that were being missed and we wanted to let the patients know.

"It has certainly shocked patients to see the figures. We are hoping it will encourage patients to make contact to cancel appointments."

She added the surgery gives patients lots of opportunities to cancel appointments if they can no longer attend - face to face, by phone or text, and via an app.