TORY NHS CUTS HALT 70,000 OPERATIONS
Lack of staff, beds and equipment force surge in cancellations
NEARLY 70,000 NHS operations were cancelled last year due to a lack of beds, staff or equipment.
A Mirror probe found more than 250,000 could have been axed in total. And it is likely to get worse as winter sets in. Labour’s Jon Ashworth blamed Tory cuts and said: “Ministers should hang their heads in shame.”
THE crisis hitting the NHS is expected to deepen as cold weather really bites in January and February.
Early data suggests the number of operations scrapped this winter could be the highest in NHS history.
The warning comes as the Mirror learned more than quarter of a million procedures were likely axed in 2017-18.
Among them were almost 70,000 due to lack of staff, beds or equipment as Tory cuts continued to take their toll.
Hip, heart and cancer operations are believed to be among those called off.
Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth said it was “nothing short of scandal”. He added: “Behind these statistics are thousands of people waiting longer and longer in pain and anxiety for an operation, with huge risks their health will deteriorate further. Ministers should hang their heads in shame for what they have done to our NHS.”
A lack of beds caused 29,869 cancellations last year, up 59% on 18,783 in 201314. Lack of staff led to 29,550 axed ops – up 73%. Equipment or theatres being unavailable stopped 10,334 procedures – a 48% rise. Other reasons included admin errors, emergencies, bad weather and the patient not being available.
The Mirror asked for data on non-clinical cancellations and got 138 replies from 170 trusts.
Overall, the figure rose by 29%
from 166,000 in 2013-14 to 214,000 in 2017-18. The figure was up 9% in a year.
It suggests about 264,000 cancellations if all trusts provided data.
Meanwhile, hospital beds are already full for the New Year and A&Es suffered their worst November on record, according to NHS England figures.
Last winter it had to issue an order to axe non-urgent operations and divert resources to crisis-hit A&Es. The Royal College of Surgeons said the cancellation figures were of “deep concern”.
It added: “With January and February ahead, when hospitals tend to experience increased pressure and bed shortages, it seems inevitable there will be further cancellations.”
But the NHS insisted: “Despite significant pressure, in England fewer than 1% of operations are postponed on the day with just 0.9% cancelled in the last three months.
“Nurses, doctors and NHS leaders across the country are also rightly prioritising emergency patients over winter.”
Ministers should hang their heads in shame for what they have done to our NHS JON ASHWORTH LABOUR SHADOW HEALTH SECRETARY