Health managers at hospitals across Oxfordshire are to send patients text messages to remind them not to miss upcoming appointments.

The initiative, which will start in August, is part of a bid to reduce tens of thousands of missed appointments, which last year cost Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust about £500,000.

Money wasted in man hours and resources could pay for a year's course of Sunitinib treatment for 15 renal cancer sufferers who have been denied the £2,500-a-month life-extending drug.

Last night, the Government released records showing that 41,444 slots at county hospitals went unattended in 2007/08, including 824 in-patient appointments for operations.

Almost 7,000 people have already missed hospital appointments in Oxfordshire since April 1 this year.

The ORH calculated that each missed appointment costs between £10 and £15 in lost time and resources.

Dr Richard Turner, a dermatologist at the Churchill Hospital, said: "There is nothing worse than having a busy clinic booked and then 20 per cent of your patients fail to turn up.

"This new system will help to ensure we can manage our appointments more efficiently and this will reduce waiting times.

"Some elderly patients will be less familiar with texting but they can learn - my mum is 70 and she texts all the time."

Sarah Pennington, performance improvement manager at the ORH, added: "Initially it will cost about £5,000 to set up the new system, but it could lead to us saving a lot more than that. We will save money because we will have to send out fewer letters to patients missing appointments."

The plan follows research by the NHS that found two out of three "no shows" had simply forgotten about their booking.

About a quarter said they felt better and decided not to go, but did not cancel their appointment.

If the trial at the John Radcliffe and Churchill Hospitals in Oxford and the Horton Hospital in Banbury proves successful, GPs across the county could sign up for a similar scheme.

There were 114,486 missed doctors' appointments in the county last year.

A spokesman for Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust said: "We know that sometimes there are good reasons why people can't make their appointments, but it's important patients let their hospital know as soon as possible if they cannot attend or no longer want the appointment.

"Not turning up for an appointment could mean missing out on important medical treatment - or having to wait longer than needed for treatment.

"The cost for each missed appointment soon adds up and this is money that could be better spent on additional clinics, nurses, therapists or scans."

A spokesman at the department of health said: "We want to make it easier for people to be able to cancel appointments by improving practice telephone systems and encouraging the use of texts and email."

Jacquie Pearce-Gervis, a spokesman for the ORH Patient Focus Group, said: "We hear a lot about silver surfers using the Internet - but not everyone has access to texts and email.

"I think this is a brilliant idea in principle, but it will only reach a certain number of patients."