Hundreds of Patients Face Last Minute Cancellations in Surrey and Sussex – news from Labour
An increasing number of patients in Sussex and Surrey are having operations cancelled hours before they expect to go under the knife, analysis by the Labour Party has revealed.
Official figures show the number of operations cancelled at the last minute between July and September, in 2014, increased by almost 50% compared to the same period last year.
Last minute means “patients who have operations cancelled, on or after the day of admission (including the day of surgery), for non-clinical reasons.”
In the SURREY AND SUSSEX AREA TEAM there were 739 last minute cancellations in 2014, compared to 504 the year before.
At the EAST SUSSEX HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST there were 48 cancellations in 2013 compared to 82 in 2014 – a 71% increase.
At the BRIGHTON AND SUSSEX UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS TRUST there were 151 cancellations in 2014 compared to 122 – an increase of 24%.
People are also waiting longer for operations at hospital trusts across the South East.
Chris Oxlade, Labour’s parliamentary candidate in Crawley, said:
David Cameron is completely out of touch with what is happening on the NHS frontline in Sussex and Surrey.
People are not only waiting longer for operations but over 700 patients have gone through the appalling anxiety of preparing for treatment only to be let down just hours before surgery.
There’s only one person to blame for the crisis in our local NHS and that’s David Cameron. He wasted £3 billion and caused chaos with a damaging NHS reorganisation he promised wouldn’t happen.”
The Royal College of Surgeons has said that operations are cancelled to free up beds because too many people are being admitted to wards via A&E.
Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said:
Under David Cameron, hospitals are full to bursting, with record numbers in A&E departments, and it is clearly dragging down the rest of the NHS.
Thousands of patients face the indignity of having an operation cancelled at the very last minute. Meanwhile it’s getting harder to see your GP and A&Es are struggling more than at any point for a decade too.
These figures are yet further proof that you cannot trust the Tories with the NHS.”
