A record 25,000-plus operations axed in THREE months

THE number of NHS ops cancelled at the last minute has hit a record high.

A total of 25,475 patients were given less than 24 hours’ notice that their procedure had been called off between January and March.

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It is the first time the figure has exceeded 25,000 and the highest since quarterly records began in 1994.

More than one in ten cancelled ops were not ­rearranged within the 28 days required under NHS rules. Ian Eardley, from the Royal College of Surgeons, said: “It is very distressing for patients who are often in pain or immobile and the delay could mean that their condition deteriorates.”

The cancellations were blamed on rising numbers of people attending A&E and then needing admission into planned surgery wards.

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Delays in getting patients out of hospital and into care homes was also a major problem. It also means the number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment in March was 491,102 — up more than a third in a year.

In April, 88.5 per cent of A&E patients were seen in four hours — the worst rate for the month since records began in 2010.

Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth said: “Patients deserve better than this.”

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