Hundreds of operations - cancelled in Kent
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Kent’s hospitals cancelled
hundreds of operations in the space of just three months
this year, it was revealed today.
Between April and June, 280
procedures were called off at the last minute for non clinical
reasons.
Either on the day the treatment
was meant to take place, or after the patient had arrived at
hospital.
That means, on average, one
operation was cancelled for every 133 that went ahead.
East Kent alone saw 123
treatments put back - by far the largest number - but the
University NHS Foundation Trust also carried out more operations
than any other trust in the county.
Their cancellation rate was
actually the lowest – at only one in 148 procedures.
By contrast, the Medway NHS
Foundation Trust had the highest percentage of cancellations, at
one in 106.
A Medway NHS Trust spokesman
said operations are cancelled for a number of reasons.
She said: "The patient may
decide they don't want surgery, or due to increased emergency
admissions there may not be a bed available.
"On rarer occasions, operations
may be cancelled due to lack of staff or specialist equipment being
available.
"Medway NHS Foundation Trust has
been working hard to reduce the number of missed appointments and
cancellations across the hospital by, for example, trying to
understand why patients might not attend and to introduce a text
message reminder service.
"If the decision to cancel is in
the Trust's hands, careful consideration will always be taken
before cancelling a procedure."
Over the same period, 60
operations were cancelled by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS
trust – a rate of one in every 123 – and 32 were cancelled by the
Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust – a rate of 1 in 147.
Tuesday, September 07 2010
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