08.06.17
Doctors say ‘enough is enough’ as 12,000 child operations cancelled last year
A lack of beds, staff and equipment in the NHS is leading to thousands of hospital operations for children being cancelled every year, doctors have today warned.
Figures released by the NHS in a Freedom of Information (FoI) request from the Labour Party revealed that at least 46,211 operations for children were cancelled over the last four years.
Last year alone, 12,349 procedures, including many essential operations to repair broken bones and remove rotten teeth, were cancelled as doctors’ leaders warned that the numbers show the NHS is at breaking point.
“When the sustained underfunding and under-resourcing of the NHS starts to impact on our children’s health it is time to say enough is enough,” said BMA council chair Dr Mark Porter.
“The tens of thousands of children’s operations cancelled over the past four years reveal the true picture of an NHS at breaking point, buckling under the increasing pressure felt across the service.”
Dr Porter went on to say that the NHS’s hospitals and GP surgeries were full, whilst social care was collapsing and NHS staff were working under impossible conditions, and patients – of all ages – were being let down.
“As we approach a general election, I call on politicians of all parties not to duck this crisis any longer, and instead outline credible plans that will deliver the fully funded and supported NHS that staff want and patients deserve,” he argued.
The figures could also turn out to be significantly higher than this, as the results of the FoI request actually only cover around half of England’s 153 NHS hospital trusts.
Neena Modi, president of Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, added: “These figures are shocking, all the more so as they clearly reflect only the tip of the iceberg, and are further evidence that the NHS is being pushed to the brink.
“Children are harmed by delays in operations, and for some the damage may be long term.”
NHE has contacted the Department of Health and the Conservative party for comment.
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