NHS figures show a sharp rise in the number of planned operations being cancelled. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Thousands of patients whose operations have been cancelled because of the growing turmoil in the UK’s A&E departments are facing prolonged anxiety, discomfort and pain while they wait for a new date for their surgery.
A sharp rise in the number of procedures hospitals are postponing has prompted the leader of Britain’s surgeons to warn that patients affected will suffer “considerable distress”.
Unprecedented demand has led to a third more elective (planned) operations being cancelled in England this winter than last year, latest figures show. A total of 12,345 were called off at short notice between 3 November and 4 January, a rise of 32% on the 9,320 seen in the same period in the winter of 2013-14.
Some 3,771 procedures such as hernia repairs and hip or knee replacements were cancelled in the three weeks before and during the festive season alone, as the NHS experienced some of the most intense pressure in its history.
Clare Marx, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: “The continued rise in the number of operations cancelled for non-clinical reasons remains of deep concern.
“Telling a patient that they cannot have the operation they have waited and planned for can cause considerable distress to the individual and their family. As surgeons we are doing our best to manage our patients’ conditions and to make sure they can have the surgery at a time when they need it.”
The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has warned that people with failing eyesight awaiting cataract operations will suffer as a result of extended delays to surgery.
“Patients tell us of their frustration at having lengthy waits for cataract surgery and their distress at having to live with reduced vision unnecessarily,” said Clara Eaglen, the charity’s policy and campaigns manager. Older people forced to wait were at risk of depression, social isolation and fall-related hip fractures, she added.
People with vision problems appreciated that NHS staff were working long hours under intense pressure as they tried to keep up with growing demand for care, Eaglen said. “Staff are being asked to do more with the same resources and this is putting huge pressures on the system, increasing waiting times for patients and putting their care at risk.”
Bed and staff shortages have already forced the Oxford University hospitals trust to cancel 792 elective operations so far this winter – the highest number in England – while 402 have been postponed at the Imperial College healthcare trust in London, 361 at the University Hospitals of North Midlands trust and 306 at the Norfolk and Norwich university hospitals foundation trust.
The number of hospitals encountering “operational problems”, at least 15 of which have had to declare a major incident when they could not cope with the volume of patients, has also led to 626 urgent operations being cancelled so far this winter, up from 506 in the same period last year.
Andy Burnham, shadow health secretary, said the growing number of postponements showed problems in A&E were now affecting other NHS services.
“The A&E crisis is intensifying and spreading to other parts of the NHS. An operation being cancelled is an experience that causes a great deal of stress and anguish and it’s one nobody should have to go through,” said Burnham. “Patients in all parts of the NHS are now being made to feel the effects of the crisis in A&E.”
Growing cancellations were part of the reason why the number of people waiting for planned treatment was at its highest for six years, he added. The waiting list of people supposed to be treated within 18 weeks of referral by their GP has risen from 2.57 million when the coalition took power in May 2010 to 3.2 million.
NHS England said that patients whose surgery had been cancelled should have the operation rescheduled within four weeks, at another hospital if necessary.
“At this time of year doctors and hospitals are rightly prioritising emergency and urgent patients,” said a spokesman. “The NHS constitution is clear that patients whose elective operations are postponed must then be treated within 28 days, and also have the option of choosing to have their treatment faster at other convenient hospitals.
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