NHS pressures force cancelled children’s ops

NHS figures have revealed that thousands of children’s operations are being cancelled each year as a result of bed, staff and equipment shortages.

The data shows that 46,211 operations have been cancelled over the last four years, with 12,349 surgeries on children and young people cancelled during 2016-17 alone. The figure for 2016-17 is 35 per cent higher than the 2013-14 figure of 9,128, highlighting the rising pressure on NHS staff and facilities.

The figures, which were obtained by Labour under freedom of information requests, are believed to be higher than the above figures, as they only cover approximately half of England’s 153 acute hospital trusts.

Cancellations were the result of the unavailability of equipment, or indeed equipment failures, as well as unavailable surgeons or anaesthetists. Other hospitals cited a lack of either intensive care or high-dependency beds in which to care for children after their operation, as well as overbooking lists and lack of their time.

Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, Jon Ashworth, said the figures were ‘an absolute damning indictment of the Conservatives’ neglect of the NHS’, emphasising the ‘unnecessary stress’ for ‘entirely unavoidable reasons’.

The Chelsea and Westminster hospital cancelled the most procedures during the four-year period, totalling 2,951 cancelled operations. For each individual year, the Royal National Orthopaedic hospital in London cancelled the highest number of procedures, reaching 801 in 2014-15, 941 in 2015-16 and 930 in 2016-17.

Professor Neena Modi, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “These figures are shocking, all the more so as they clearly reflect only the tip of the iceberg, and are further evidence that the NHS is being pushed to the brink. Children are harmed by delays in operations, and for some the damage may be long-term.”