Pandemic pressures cause nearly 60 cancelled operations

Pandemic pressures caused the last minute cancellation of nearly operations at Hartlepool’s hospital trust in the last three months of the year, according to new figures.
The University Hospital of Hartlepool.The University Hospital of Hartlepool.
The University Hospital of Hartlepool.

NHS England figures for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust – which runs The University Hospital of Hartlepool – show that 59 pre-booked operations were postponed on or after the day the patient was admitted between October and December.

The figures do not record which operations were cancelled by the Trust because of pressures caused by the pandemic or other reasons and how many were cancelled at the request of the patient.

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A spokesperson for the Trust said: “The unprecedented two-year global COVID-19 pandemic inevitably impacted every hospital’s ability to perform planned surgical procedures.

“Cancellations can be for various reasons, such as patients with covid being unable to attend, patient choice to rearrange or staff absences during the peak of Covid.”

The statement added: “Thanks to the diligence and commitment of our colleagues, we minimised our cancellations as much as possible and are working hard to clear the backlog.

“We keep in touch with patients on the waiting list which is regularly reviewed by clinicians to ensure surgeries are booked according to medical priority.

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“Where cancellations relate to patient choice or covid infection we follow national guidance in terms of when the reappointment is made.”

NHS rules state that patients who have their operations cancelled at the last minute must be offered a new operation date within four weeks.

The figures show 12 of the affected patients at the North Tees and Hartlepool Trust had to wait more than 28 days for a new date.

Nationally, the NHS cancelled 19,300 elective surgeries for non-clinical reasons over the three-month period – equating to 1.1% of all activity – a similar proportion to the same quarter in 2019-20, prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

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However, the percentage of patients waiting more than a month for operations to be rescheduled rose sharply from nine per cent to 24%.

That meant there were more than 4,600 breaches of the NHS standard.

Common non-clinical reasons for last-minute cancellations include a lack of hospital beds, surgeons being unavailable, emergency cases taking precedence, equipment failure, staff shortages and patients nor wishing to go ahead with operations.

Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said the NHS needed more staff and resources to tackle the problem.

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She added: "Every cancellation just adds to the backlog NHS England is trying to clear and the growing number of patients waiting for treatment.

"For individual patients, having long-awaited surgery cancelled at the last minute can be devasting, especially if they've no idea when they will finally be called in.

"The challenge for the NHS is managing to treat all the people currently waiting for care and treatment, while also managing patients newly seeking care.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said the Government's plan to tackle the Covid-19 backlog and deliver long term reform would mean 99% of patients would wait less than a year for treatment by 2024.

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