Rise in number of elective operations cancelled at the last minute by Northumbria Healthcare

NHS England suspended collecting data on cancelled operations from April 2020 through September 2021 due to the pandemic, but since restarting, the number of cancelled operations across England has risen by 10% in the last year.

The Royal College of Surgeons of England said no surgeon wanted to cancel operations, but high demand and the lack of social care leading to a delay in discharging patients had made this impossible.

NHS England figures show 57 elective operations were cancelled at the last minute in the three months to December at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – up from 53 the previous quarter, and the highest since October to December 2021, when data collecting was resumed.

A spokesperson from Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: “We always try to avoid last-minute cancellations or other disruptions to patients, but unfortunately there are occasions where we have no option but to postpone operations.

“During the period in question, we carried out 16,680 operations, meaning that the overwhelming majority of patients received the high-quality care they expected as planned.

"Our teams continue to work incredibly hard and this is reflected in our waiting times where our performance against the national 18-week referral to treatment target during the period in question was the best in the country."

In 2022 as a whole, a total of 188 operations were cancelled on the day the patient arrived at hospital, after they arrived, or on the day of the operation itself in 2022.

Nationally, cancelled operations rose by 9% in the three months to December from the previous quarter and 10% on the same time period in 2021.

The proportion of cancelled operations has remained consistent at around 1% of the total number of operations planned since before the pandemic.

Mr Tim Mitchell, vice-president of the RCS of England, said: "No surgeon wants to be in the position of telling a patient their surgery has to be cancelled but the very high demand we have seen in emergency departments since the summer, and problems discharging patients who are ready to leave hospital when there is a lack of social care, mean this is too often what has to happen.

"Gaps in the workforce also play a huge part. Often there will be a surgeon available to operate, but no theatre nurses or anaesthetists."

More patients of cancelled operations across England also had to wait longer to be treated again.

Some 4,590 patients were forced to wait more than 28 days to be treated following their operation being cancelled in the three months to December – up from 4,150 the previous quarter.

Of these, one was at Northumbria Healthcare – up from none the previous quarter.