More than 3,400 ops cancelled in January

Hospitals across Scotland cancelled the equivalent of 40 operations a day in January because of problems such as a lack of beds or staff, new figures have revealed.

Official NHS figures showed that of the 27,890 surgeries scheduled to take place, a total of 3,424 were cancelled – 12.3% of all planned procedures.

This includes 1,249 cancelled by the hospital due to capacity or nonclinical reasons.

That compares to the 778 operations cancelled on these grounds in December 2017 and is up from January last year, when the total was 704.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “These new statistics show that 40 patients a day had their operations cancelled through no fault of their own during January – twice the normal rate.

“SNP ministers need to give NHS boards the support they need to get operations back on track.”

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “This has been an exceptionally challenging January for the NHS. However, despite those challenges the NHS in Scotland carried out over 24,000 planned operations in January, nearly 825 operations on average a day.

“This is down to winter contingency planning from boards and the hard work and commitment of NHS staff.

“We are working closely with health boards across Scotland to ensure those patients that had their operations cancelled as a result of winter pressures are now seen quickly.”

Shona Robison.