NHS bosses set to axe 300,000 more operations to ease pressure on hospitals as doctor apologises for ‘third world conditions’

HEALTH bosses are to axe up to 300,000 more operations to ease pressure on swamped hospitals.

It comes as an A&E consultant apologised for “third world conditions”.

Hospitals have been told to use mixed sex wards to help ease “sustained pressure” in an unprecedented move.

And senior medics must weed out time-wasters at the door of casualty to speed up treatment.

Hospitals have been flooded with patients suffering from deadly “Aussie Flu” — a potent strain that caused havoc in Oz and New Zealand.

Darent Valley Hospital in Kent and Royal Cornwall Hospital are among those to declare black alerts — meaning overcrowding is putting patients at risk — in the past week.

Milton Keynes University Hospital was also telling patients to stay away from A&E unless a genuine emergency.

Dr Richard Fawcett, an A&E consultant at Royal Stoke University, tweeted: “I apologise for the 3rd world conditions of the dept due to overcrowding.”

Dr Nick Scriven, from the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “The position across the NHS is as bad as I’ve known it.”

Struggling hospitals were told in December to stop all non-urgent surgery until mid-January.

But with wards full the block has been extended until next month.

It means large numbers of patients will be left in pain as they await ops such as hip replacements or cataract removals.

Officials say they hope to keep cancellations to a minimum.

Cancer ops will not be affected.

Chairman Professor Sir Bruce Keogh warned “pressures” will continue and flu cases are on the rise.

He said: “The NHS needs to take further action to increase capacity and minimise disruptive last-minute cancellations.

"That is why we are making these further recommendations today.”

And Tracy Bullock, chief executive of Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said she had “never seen anything like this” in her 34 years working in the NHS.