15.05.15
Number of cancelled operations ‘worst in a decade’
More than 20,000 operations were cancelled by the NHS in England over the last quarter, the worst performance in a decade.
Figures released by NHS England show that 20,464 operations out of 1.9 million were cancelled at the last minute for non-clinical reasons from January to the end of March. During the same period in 2013-14 there were 17,868 cancelled operations.
It is the highest number since the last quarter of 2004-05, when patients saw 21,500 operations cancelled.
Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust had the most cancellations with 648, followed by Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust with 526.
Under NHS guidelines when an operation is cancelled for non-clinical reasons the patient should be offered an alternative date within 28 days, but the figures show that 8.7% (1,787) of patients were not treated in time.
This was again the highest figure in nearly 10 years, with 1,959 patients not being treated within 28 days in the first quarter of 2005-06
An NHS England spokesman said: "Cancellations should be avoided wherever possible as we recognise the concerns that patients face when this happens.
"However, the level of cancellations in this quarter has remained low in the context of the millions of operations performed in the NHS each year, and the unprecedented level of demand we have seen across the whole health system this winter."
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