Improvement in NHS surgery cancellations
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
During the quarter April-June 2009, 14,036 National Health Service (NHS) operations were cancelled "at the last minute for non-clinical reasons", the Department of Health (DH) reports. These cancellations, which represent 0.8% of all elective surgery activity in the NHS, were 3.5% down on the 14,543 cancellations of the same period in 2008. All but 561 (4.0%) of the patients were treated within 28 days of the cancellation, said the DH, compared with 669 (4.6%) the previous year.