Released 9 July 2024
Request:
Request reference FOI240200:
a) How many elective operations were cancelled for a non-clinical reason at the Trust in 2021/22, broken down by reason for cancellation? In case helpful, I have provided a table for ease of response.
Request reference FOI240201:
a) How many elective operations were cancelled for a non-clinical reason at the Trust in 2022/23, broken down by reason for cancellation? In case helpful, I have provided a table for ease of response.
Request reference FOI240202:
a) How many elective operations were cancelled for a non-clinical reason at the Trust in 2023/24, broken down by reason for cancellation? In case helpful, I have provided a table for ease of response.
Assistance provided to applicant under section 16 [duty to assist] on 11 June 2024:
Your requests can be interpreted in a number of ways, therefore we would appreciate clarification to ensure we provide the most appropriate data. The NHS standard for reporting elective operation cancellations for non-clinical reasons includes those cancelled ‘on the day’ or within 24 hours of the procedure.
Can you please confirm this is the data you are seeking?
Please note once you respond we will aggregate all three requests under a new FOI reference number and take this forward as allowed under Section 12(4)(b) the FOI Act. This section states that ‘if two or more requests are made to a public authority by a person or organisation then the estimated cost of complying with any of the requests is to be taken to be the estimated total cost of complying with all of them’.
Reply received from applicant on 12 June 2024:
Within 24 hours please
Following clarification, in line with the section 45 FOI Code of Practice the statutory deadline was reset, requests were aggregated into a single request and allocated a new reference number (our reference FOI240252).
Information disclosed:
Please see the table below for the number of elective operations cancelled by the Trust for ‘non-clinical reasons’ within 24 hours of planned start over the financial years requested.
Please note that the data we have provided does not include cancellations initiated by the patient or ‘did not attends’ (DNAs). Each of these instances would require review and validation to determine which of these were for ‘non-clinical’ reasons specifically to match the reporting criteria requested.
| Operations cancelled within 24 hours by reason | 2021 to 2022 | 2022 to 20223 | 2023 to 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admitted – treatment deferred by hospital – no bed | 108 | 280 | 279 |
| Admitted – treatment deferred by hospital – no staff | 55 | 157 | 196 |
| Admitted – treatment deferred by hospital – no theatre | 211 | 356 | 528 |
| Admitted – treatment deferred by hospital – other non-clinical | 1354 | 1263 | 469 |
| Cancelled by hospital – On TCI date – Anaesthetist unavailable | 19 | 30 | 35 |
| Cancelled by hospital – On TCI date – Equipment failure/unavailability | 48 | 44 | 52 |
| Cancelled by hospital – On TCI date – More urgent cases added | 276 | 244 | 218 |
| Cancelled by hospital – On TCI date – No HDU/ITU bed | 55 | 23 | 17 |
| Cancelled by hospital – On TCI date – No ward bed | 180 | 93 | 76 |
| Cancelled by hospital – On TCI date – Previous case taking longer than planned | 56 | 14 | 15 |
| Cancelled by hospital – On TCI date – Surgeon unavailable | 144 | 170 | 224 |
| Cancelled by hospital – On TCI date – Theatre list over-run | 84 | 30 | 43 |
| Cancelled by hospital – On TCI date – Theatre staff unavailable | 102 | 102 | 69 |
| Grand Total | 4205 | 4148 | 2907 |