Hundreds of NHS Tayside ops called off

More than 1,820 operations were called off in last financial year

More than 150 operations were called off within NHS Tayside last year due to a “lack of theatre time”.

The figures, released through freedom of information legislation, show the scale of patients made to wait for operations.

A lack of beds was another common cause of cancelled procedures, with about 20 being called off.

In total, more than 1,820 operations were delayed during the last financial year – April 2018 to March 2019. This does not include procedures that were called off for clinical reasons.

Health bosses insist the delays make up a small percentage of operations not taking place across the region, and that it is always done as a “last resort”.

Other reasons why operations were cancelled include administrative errors, surgeons or equipment not being available, and to make way for a higher priority case.

Many times it was the patient themselves who called off the procedure. In more than 400 cases the patient did not attend, with the health board not knowing why.

North East region Scottish Conservative MSP Bill Bowman described the figures as “deeply concerning”, and said: “Patients are waiting in discomfort, for who knows how long, before undergoing simple operations. That clearly demonstrates the NHS lacks resources.

“However, there are also lots of appointments which people just don’t turn up for and that will cost NHS Tayside hundreds of thousands of pounds a year – stretching its hardworking staff even further.

“If there are problems attending, they must ring the number on the appointment letter.”

An NHS Tayside spokeswoman said: “We perform more than 35,000 surgical procedures every year and, unfortunately, on a few occasions it is necessary to defer procedures at short notice due to unforeseen circumstances.

“Delays to planned surgical procedures happen for a variety of reasons such as a procedure being deferred to a later date as a result of an emergency procedure taking precedence, unplanned staff absences, or restricted availability of beds. Some patients may no longer require or want surgery or may not be fit for surgery on the day of their operation.

“Any decision to defer a procedure is always taken as a last resort. Our staff try their very best to minimise any disruption to our planned procedures as we appreciate that this is both upsetting and inconvenient for patients and their families. If a patient’s surgery is cancelled by us for any reason, we reschedule as soon as possible.”