Cancelled operations: Record one in four patients not treated within 28 days of cancellation

Embargoed until 22.30 Tuesday 13 February

• Figures reveal a shocking major breach of NHS standards as thousands of patients aren’t treated within 28 days of operation being cancelled

• Proportion of patients not being offered treatment within target of 28 days after a cancelled op reaches record high of 24%

• At some NHS trusts over three in four patients not treated within 28 days of cancellation

A record one in four (24.1%) patients weren’t treated within 28 days of their operation being cancelled between October and December last year, in a major breach of NHS standards, figures have revealed.

Under the NHS constitution, patients whose operation is cancelled for non-clinical reasons should be offered a new date for their procedure within the next 28 days.

However, the latest NHS England figures show that of the 20,372 elective operations cancelled at the last minute for non-clinical reasons between October and December last year, 4,913 or 24.1% weren’t treated within 28 days of cancellation. 

This is also the highest proportion of patients not being treated within 28 days of a cancelled operation since 1994, when records began, other than during the Covid pandemic when the data was suspended. It is also up from 21.6% of patients in the same period the previous year, and more than double the 9.1% of patients who weren’t treated within 28 days of a cancelled operation in the same period in 2019.

The Liberal Democrats warned that the latest figures show patients are being “catastrophically let down” by a Conservative government that is allowing NHS targets to be missed on an industrial scale.

At Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, over three in four (77%) patients in October to December 2023 weren’t treated within 28 days of having their operation cancelled, the worst in the country. This was followed by George Eliot Hospital Trust in Nuneaton with 74% not treated within 28 days, and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston where the target was missed for 70% of patients.

Elective operations are surgeries scheduled in advance that do not involve a medical emergency, and can range from kidney donations and hip replacements to mastectomies. Although many of these procedures are less urgent than emergency, patients can still face devastating consequences if they are left untreated.

For this reason, the Handbook to the NHS Constitution states that all patients who have operations cancelled for non-clinical reasons are "to be offered another binding date within 28 days" or the treatment is "to be funded at the time and hospital of the patient’s choice." 

Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

“These figures show patients are being let down catastrophically, left waiting in pain for the treatment to which they are entitled. This Conservative government is allowing NHS targets to be missed on an industrial scale.

“To have your operation cancelled at the last minute is bad enough, but then not to have it rescheduled on time just adds insult to injury.

“Rishi Sunak must take responsibility for the utter mess the health service has been left in after years of neglect under this government. Every day that goes by it’s clearer that the Conservative Party has failed patients, ruined the NHS and needs to be kicked out of office.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor

Data is available from NHS England here, time series data going back to 1994 available here.

One of the pledges under the NHS Handbook Constitution is that “all patients who have operations cancelled, on or after the day of admission (including the day of surgery), for non-clinical reasons to be offered another binding date within 28 days, or the patient's treatment to be funded at the time and hospital of the patient's choice.”