Paediatricians’ leader says figures obtained by Labour are further evidence NHS is being pushed to the brink

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Thousands of operations on children are being cancelled each year, often because NHS hospitals do not have enough beds, staff or equipment.



Procedures to repair broken bones, remove rotten teeth or insert grommets are among the 46,211 operations that have been cancelled over the last four years, NHS figures show.

A total of 12,349 surgeries on children and young people were cancelled during 2016-17 alone, in the latest sign that under-pressure hospitals are struggling to give patients timely care.

The real number of cancellations is likely to be much higher as the figures obtained by Labour under freedom of information laws cover barely half of England’s 153 acute hospital trusts.

Prof Neena Modi, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “These figures are shocking, all the more so as they clearly reflect only the tip of the iceberg, and are further evidence that the NHS is being pushed to the brink. Children are harmed by delays in operations, and for some the damage may be long-term.”

Hospitals are under increasing pressure amid rising demand, staffing problems and an unprecedented financial squeeze. The figure of 12,349 cancelled children’s operations last year was 35% higher than the 2013-14 figure of 9,128.

The Royal National Orthopaedic hospital in London cancelled the highest number of children’s operations in a single year over the past four years: 941, in 2015-16. It also also had the second and third highest numbers: 930 in 2016-17 and 801 in 2014-15.

But the Chelsea and Westminster hospital, also in the capital, cancelled the most procedures – 2,951 – during the four-year period, which for a few trusts included April 2017 as well as the four years between 2013 and 2017.

Reasons given by hospitals for cancellations included “anaesthetist unavailable”, “equipment failure/unavailable”, and “surgeon unavailable”. Some also cited a lack of either intensive care or high-dependency beds in which to care for children after their operation.

Others explained that “lack of theatre time” and “list overrun/overbooked” were key factors involved. But some operations were postponed for medical reasons, including the patient being deemed unfit for surgery or doctors deciding the procedure was no longer necessary.

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, who obtained the data, said the large number of cancellations was “an absolute damning indictment of the Conservatives’ neglect of the NHS”.

He said: “The truth is that behind each of these cancellations is a poor child and their loved ones faced with unnecessary stress, largely for entirely avoidable reasons.

“A shortage of beds, failing equipment and inadequate staffing levels reflect the reality of the Tories’ abject failure to properly invest in our wonderful NHS staff and to tackle our crumbling hospital infrastructure.”

He said 9,625 children’s surgeries – 963 a month – had been cancelled since Theresa May became prime minister last July.

Among 275 operations cancelled by Bolton hospital trust were 62 ear, nose and throat procedures, 61 trauma and orthopaedic surgeries and 48 operations for oral health complaints.

Mid-Yorkshire hospitals trust said it cancelled 366 children’s surgeries in the 10 months between July 2016 and April 2017, including plastic surgery, procedures for broken bones, eyesight problems and urological issues.

Ashworth added: “Our children’s good health is of the utmost importance and yet standards have drastically slipped under Theresa May’s watch. Frankly, this stark evidence flies in the face of the prime minister’s laughable claim that the NHS faces a ‘small number of incidents of unacceptable practice’.”

A Conservative spokesman said the figures did not give a fair picture of children’s operations carried out by the NHS.

“While we want all children to get their operations promptly, this is a partial picture. Despite the fact that the NHS does 1.9m more operations a year than in 2010, the proportion of cancellations remains low and stable at just 1% of the total,” he said.