This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Hundreds of cancer operations cancelled over winter
A poll carried out by the Health Service Journal (HSJ) has found that hundreds of cancer procedures were cancelled over the winter period, with patient groups warning that such cancellations could have affected patient survival chances.
The HSJ poll of 81 acute NHS trusts revealed that over half were forced to cancel at least one operation between December and February, with 530 scrapped in total. This is despite cancer operations and time-critical procedures being exempt from NHS England’s plans for trusts to delay pre-planned operations and routine outpatient appointments to offload mounting pressures.
At the end of March, Cambridge University hospitals NHS foundation trust claimed it had been forced to cancel all planned procedures, including those for cancer care, for one day due to a large influx of emergency cases.
Speaking to the HSJ, Fran Woodard, executive director of policy and impact at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “Depending on the type of operation, a delay could mean that the cancer not only progresses in that time, but that the chances of survival are also affected.”
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