The Times has recently reported on new NHS statistics which reveal that cancellations of urgent surgical procedures is at an all-time high.
Between July 2016 and June 2017, over 4000 urgent operations have been cancelled for non-clinical reasons. This is most likely to be due to shortage of beds, which may, in itself be the result of shortages in community care preventing patients from being discharged from hospital.
Statistics also show that the number of urgent operations that have been cancelled twice has more than doubled between 2011 and 2017, from 2% to over 5% of all cancelled operations.
The number of cancelled operations which have not been re-scheduled within 28 days has also risen significantly from 3.4% in 2010 to over 7% in 2017.
Urgent operations are non-emergency procedures which, nonetheless, need to be carried out within hours. They are identified by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death as ‘interventions for acute onset or clinical deterioration of potentially life-threatening conditions, conditions that may threaten the survival of limb or organ, for fixation of fractures and for relief of pain and other distressing symptoms.’
According to The Times, a spokeswoman for the Royal College of Surgeons commented that, “Cancelling operations for non-clinical reasons causes stress for patients…in some cases patients can deteriorate or develop complications and their outcomes are often worse the longer they wait for treatment.”
Medical Negligence
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