Rise in number of operations put off
HEALTH: More than 20,000 operations were cancelled at the last minute by NHS hospitals in England in the first three months of 2015, the worst performance in a decade.
The figures are a further sign of pressure on hospitals as latest indicators show A&E units failed to meet national targets for the 32nd week in a row.
MORE THAN 20,000 operations were cancelled at the last minute by NHS hospitals in England in the first three months of 2015, the worst performance in a decade.
The figures, which were published yesterday, are a further sign of pressure on hospitals as latest indicators show A&E units failed to meet national targets for the 32nd week in a row.
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust again had the worst casualty performance in the country, with only 72.8 per cent of patients seen in the target four hours, while it had the sec- ond highest number of cancellations.
Some 526 patients had surgery cancelled for non-clinical reasons – only Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust cancelled more with 648 halted at the last minute between January and March.
Figures released by NHS England show 20,464 operations were cancelled over the period - up 15 per cent on the year before.
It is the highest number since the last quarter of 2004-05, when patients saw 21,500 operations cancelled.
Hospitals should offer another date within a maximum of 28 days, or fund the patient’s treatment at the time and hospital of their choice.
But figures show that nearly one in 11 patients did not go on to be treated within the target time.
This was the highest figure since the first quarter of 2005-6, when 1,959 were not treated within 28 days.
An NHS England spokesman said: “Cancellations should be avoided wherever possible as we recognise the concerns that patients face when this happens.
“However, the level of cancellations in this quarter has remained low in the context of the millions of operations performed in the NHS each year, and the unprecedented level of demand we have seen across the whole health system this winter.”
In A&Es across England, 93.4 per cent of patients spent four hours or less from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge in the seven days to Sunday. This was a dip on the last couple of weeks, when figures had been their best since early October.
Seven of the 15 NHS trusts serving the region hit the 95 per cent target. Only 84.1 per cent of patients were seen in the target time at the York Teaching Hospi- tal NHS Foundation Trust, which runs A&Es in York and Scarborough.
There were a total of 444,400 attendances at A&E in the week ending May 10 – up from 433,300 the previous week.
An NHS England spokesman said: “These latest figures show our frontline staff continue to deliver an excellent service while coming under sustained pressure.”
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust said: “It is no secret that our trust has experienced some significant pressures this winter.
“In order to try and alleviate these pressures, the trust took various measures to free up hos- pital beds and consultant time, and this included cancelling a number of routine operations.
“The decision to cancel any operation is always regrettable and is a difficult one to take, as we are mindful of the impact this can have on a patient and their family.
“In the last couple of weeks, we have seen a number of wards affected by norovirus which has, in turn, limited our ability to admit patients.
“This has created a certain amount of pressure in the system, which has then been reflected in our emergency department performance.
“We hope to see this picture improve in the coming weeks.”
Our trust has experienced significant pressures this winter. Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
TWO MORE NHS trusts running hospitals in Yorkshire are predicting deficits in the year ahead.
For the first time in its 14-year history, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is forecasting it will be in the red, with debts of £11m by next March.
Managers at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have also drawn up a defi- cit budget amid predictions it will be £3.5m in debt in 2015-16 owing to a combination of reduced payments for care, rising costs and additional investment in quality and safety.
Of 15 NHS trusts serving the region, at least 10 are now expected to be in the red by March. Analysis by The Yorkshire Post suggests debts will exceed £100m in total but could be significantly higher amid a worsening financial crisis across the NHS.
Neil Priestley, director of finance at the Sheffield trust, said the deficit was a result of national changes to the amount of money it was paid, alongside rising costs and growing demand for care.
Nearly £7m of the gap related to planned spending on essential clinical IT systems.
He said: “Our staff work ex- ceptionally hard to try and find new ways of delivering care and being as efficient as possible and we will continue to do all we can to achieve a break even position by addressing the remaining £4m if at all possible. At this stage we do not anticipate there will be a significant impact on services or jobs as £11m, whilst a large number, is less than one per cent of our £1bn budget.”