‘Overstretched’ NHS axes nearly 90 ops every day

MORE than 97,000 operations have been cancelled across the NHS in Scotland in the past three years.

This is the equivalent of nearly 90 planned procedures being rescheduled every day.

The Scottish Government released the figures following a parliamentary question from Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs.

In 2016, there were 34,581 cancellations, with 30,731 in 2017 and 32,010 last year. Operations can be rescheduled for reasons such as a lack of beds or staff, the patient being unavailable or no longer needing the surgery.

Last November, around 700 procedures – including cancer cases – were cancelled by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde after a decontamination unit that sterilises surgical equipment was shut for emergency building repairs.

Mr Briggs said: ‘The fact nearly 100,000 operations have been scrapped since the SNP decided to record these statistics is eyewatering. This will have created massive heartache and inconvenience for thousands of patients.

‘The SNP’s workforce planning has been shambolic and that failure has left staff and resources completely overstretched.’

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: ‘When operations are cancelled, they will be rescheduled at the earliest opportunity.

‘Our waiting times improvement plan will help increase capacity and efficiency, and introduce new models of care which will help us to further reduce cancellations.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Over this three-year period, more than 930,000 operations have been carried out.

‘In fact, 38 per cent of all cancellations were at the request of the patient, and 35 per cent were for clinical reasons.

‘The number cancelled for nonclinical reasons was 2.2 per cent.’