ALMOST 30 patients every day are having their operations cancelled after a surge in demand over winter left hospitals across the country struggling to cope.

 

Since the turn of the year, nearly 1000 pre-planned operations have been put off at short notice due to a recent spike in urgent cases that has left the NHS desperately short of beds, leading surgeons to say "radical change" may be needed to address underlying issues in the way healthcare is delivered.

As recently as six years ago, just two of Scotland's 14 health boards cancelled more than a handful of operations due to a lack of beds over an entire winter, and half delayed none at all. However since New Year's Day, seven health boards have delayed at least 60 operations due to winter pressure, and three have taken the step on more than 140 occasions.

Scottish Conservative MSP and health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said that hundreds of people would have suffered a massive inconvenience and in some cases their health and wellbeing would have been hit.

"Everyone appreciates winter brings greater challenges for the NHS than any other time of year, but these statistics are eye-watering," he added. "When winter bites it's understandable some procedures will be cancelled - but the scale of this shows how wide of the mark the SNP planning for this was."

Rescheduling operations at the last minute is largely seen by NHS bosses as a last resort, given the impact it has on patients who have spent months on waiting lists and in some cases will have gone without food and water for several hours before being told that their procedure will not take place.

Health boards blamed an unprecedented surge in patient numbers with urgent conditions for the situation, while consistently high levels of delayed discharges, which see patients stuck in hospital because there is a lack of care home places or support packages provided by councils, is another key factor behind the shortage of available beds.

Ian Ritchie, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, said that while the issue of cancelling elective operations was important, it was a symptom of a wider problem in the NHS.

"It is certainly the case that the cancellation of an operation can have a detrimental impact on the patient, the surgeon and the broader surgical team and, as such, it is an issue which needs to be addressed," he said.

"However, addressing one problem will not solve others and may indeed cause new issues to develop. It is crucial, therefore, that we consider things in the round and with flexible and open minds. It is also crucial that management and clinicians work together to look at how the healthcare system and service delivery model can be improved, through radical change if necessary."

Over the whole of the 2013-14 financial year NHS Tayside cancelled 32 operations as a result of bed shortages. However, in the first six weeks of this year alone, 88 have already been delayed due to a lack of hospital capacity.

The health board said it had seen a significant increase in the number of patients being admitted with viral illnesses and that many were "acutely ill". The influx was having a "significant impact" on the number of beds available, a spokeswoman admitted.

Only NHS Shetland and NHS Borders did not provide figures to The Herald, while NHS Western Isles was the only board to say that no operations had been put off.

When a procedure is delayed, hospital managers will typically rebook the appointment at the first available opportunity. In total, at least 837 procedures have been delayed across Scotland in the first six weeks of the year.

NHS Lothian deferred around 50 operations over the whole of January and February 2013 on the day that surgery was due to take place due to bed shortages. The picture has deteriorated significantly this winter, with 120 operations cancelled last month and a further 24 already postponed this month as a result of winter pressure.

Meanwhile, a row broke out after Labour published figures which the party claimed showed that the health service in England was delaying a far lower proportion of operations than in Glasgow. The statistics used by Labour, which unlike the English data included delays for clinical reasons, were rubbished by the SNP with a spokesman for Health Secretary Robison accusing her opponents of "shameless" behaviour.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said that while any cancelled operations were "to be regretted", unscheduled cases would take priority where appropriate.

She added: "It is crucial that boards liaise with patients to find a suitable date as quickly as possible in order to ensure disruption to the patient is kept the minimum. Where cancellations do take place, the large majority are routine procedures - although this should not underestimate the impact on the patient involved."