§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many operations were postponed in each of the last five years by hospital authorities; and if he will make a statement; [11476]
(2) if he will rank each hospital in England by the number of postponed operations as a proportion of total operations, giving the relevant number for each hospital. [11477]
§ Mr. HuttonWe are committed to achieving the NHS Plan targets for improving performance on cancelled operations.
From April 2002, when a patient's operation is cancelled by the hospital on the day of surgery for non-clinical reasons, the hospital will have to offer
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Cancelled operations for non clinical reasons, health authorities in England, 2000–01 Region Health authority Number of operations cancelled Number of elective FFCEs England 77,818 5,294,362 South East Oxfordshire HA 2,221 46,605 London Camden and Islington HA 1,612 34,281 London Barking and Havering HA 1,984 45,169 North West Manchester Health 2,330 53,983 London Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster 1,349 33,477 South East Buckinghamshire HA 2,082 53,557 South East Isle of Wight health authority 412 10,940 South West Avon Health 3,544 109,329 London East London and The City HA 1,787 55,481 South East West Surrey Health Commission 1,705 58,500 North West Morecambe Bay HA 803 27,893 West Midlands Coventry Health 759 27,051 West Midlands Birmingham HA 2,633 95,257 Northern and Yorks Newcastle and North Tyneside HA 1,661 62,256 South East Berkshire HA 1,840 70,902 another binding date within a maximum of the next 28 days or fund the patient's treatment at the time and hospital of the patient's choice.
To ensure that this target is achieved, we have established a Theatre project, to develop good practice in operating theatres and ensure that this is spread throughout the national health service. This will improve the patient and carer experience; improve employee satisfaction and morale; optimise theatre utilisation, planning and scheduling; and reduce cancelled operations.
In addition, as part of the Government's £100 million strategy to reduce long waits in accident and emergency a 100 million programme of investment was announced. This will contribute to a drive to reduce hospital bed occupancy rates by purchasing additional operations in the private sector. This, alongside continued growth in general and acute hospital beds, will free up capacity in the NHS for emergency patients, help to eliminate long trolley waits and dramatically reduce—by up to 75 per cent.—the number of planned operations cancelled at the last minute.
The number of operations cancelled by hospitals, for non-clinical reasons in England, from 1996–97 to 2000–01 are given in the table.
Year Number of cancelled operations in year 1996–97 52,047 1997–98 50,505 1998–99 56,150 1999–2000 60,242 2000–01 77,818 Note:
Information collected by the Department of Health are numbers of operations cancelled for non-clinical reasons on the day of admission, or on the day of the operation.
Source:
Department of Health Patients Charter returns
The number and proportion of operations cancelled for non clinical reasons on the day of admission, or on the day of operation are given in the table.
The data supplied are for the latest available full year at health authority level. Trust level data have only been collected on a shadow basis since Quarter 1, 2001–02 and it is unclear how robust this is at this level at present. Also, when measuring relative performance, it is better to measure over a whole year, rather than a single quarter.
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Cancelled operations for non clinical reasons, health authorities in England, 2000–01 Region Health authority Number of operations cancelled Number of elective FFCEs London Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth HA 1,466 57,234 London Redbridge and Waltham Forest HA 1,038 41,173 Trent Sheffield Health 1,398 63,312 Northern and Yorks Wakefield HA 966 44,929 Northern and Yorks North Cumbria HA 767 36,658 Eastern South Essex HA 1,299 62,700 London Brent and Harrow HA 924 45,050 Eastern Cambridgeshire HA 1,467 71,878 South East Southampton and South West Hampshire HA 1,154 56,744 West Midlands Herefordshire HA 356 17,874 South East East Sussex, Brighton and Hove HA 1,426 74,472 North West St. Helen's and Knowsley HA 808 42,287 London Bromley Health 615 32,294 London Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham HA 1,339 72,930 North West South Cheshire HA 1,165 65,410 London Hillingdon HA 390 22,314 Eastern North Essex HA 1,246 73,330 South West South and West Devon HA 1,199 75,509 North West Wigan and Bolton HA 1,032 65,140 London Croydon HA 430 29;115 London Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow HA 953 65,954 Eastern Bedfordshire HA 694 48,050 West Midlands North Staffordshire HA 766 53,096 South West Wiltshire HA 790 56,159 Northern and Yorks Tees HA 998 71,489 North West Sefton HA 479 35,247 Eastern Suffolk Health 955 70,600 London Barnet HA 380 28,289 London Enfield and Haringey HA 592 44,446 North West North Cheshire 464 36,014 North West Stockport HA 404 31,938 South East East Kent HA 785 62,601 South East West Kent HA 1,027 82,201 South East East Surrey HA 436 36,748 West Midlands Dudley HA 360 31,192 North West South Lancashire HA 426 37,544 North West West Pennine HA 609 54,518 South East Portsmouth and South East Hampshire HA 599 54,445 Northern and Yorks Calderdale and Kirklees HA 744 68,558 South West North and East Devon HA 728 68,201 South East West Sussex HA 111 73,713 South West Gloucestershire Health 669 63,844 Trent Leicester HA 987 98,558 North West Liverpool HA 571 57,304 Eastern East and North Hertfordshire HA 490 50,395 North West Salford and Trafford HA 507 52,744 London Kingston and Richmond HA 277 29,046 Northern and Yorks North Yorkshire HA 791 85,967 Eastern Norfolk HA 824 91,868 North West East Lancashire HA 579 64,553 South East Northamptonshire HA 489 56,267 Eastern West Hertfordshire HA 425 49,189 North West North West Lancashire HA 492 56,948 Trent North Nottinghamshire Health 360 42,899 South West Somerset HA 510 61,908 Trent North Derbyshire Health 339 41,266 South West Dorset HA 877 107,048 West Midlands South Staffordshire HA 516 63,007 Trent Doncaster HA 344 42,050 South East North and Mid Hampshire HA 422 51,813 Northern and Yorks Leeds HA 602 76,594 London Bexley and Greenwich HA 320 41,486 Trent Nottingham HA 501 65,289 South West Cornwall and Isles of Scilly HA 464 66,340 Trent Lincolnshire Health 508 73,846 Trent South Humber 292 42,831 West Midlands Worcestershire HA 337 51,010 Northern and Yorks Bradford HA 451 68,547 North West Wirral Health 223 33,958 West Midlands Shropshire HA 285 44,946 West Midlands Walsall HA 149 25,046 Trent Rotherham HA 159 27,569
Cancelled operations for non clinical reasons, health authorities in England, 2000–01 Region Health authority Number of operations cancelled Number of elective FFCEs Northern and Yorks Sunderland HA 206 35,723 West Midlands Sandwell HA 181 34,708 West Midlands Warwickshire HA 278 55,312 Northern and Yorks East Riding HA 323 66,467 Northern and Yorks Gateshead and South Tyneside HA 200 50,945 Northern and Yorks County Durham HA 265 72,516 West Midlands Wolverhampton HA 83 24,085 Trent Southern Derbyshire Health 231 72,049 Trent Barnsley HA 37 31,364 Northern and Yorks Northumberland HA 48 53,177 North West Bury and Rochdale HA 31 48,197 West Midlands 1 Solihull HA 0 19,676 1 Solihull does not have any acute trusts. Notes:
- 1. Information collected by the Department of Health are numbers of operations cancelled for non-clinical reasons on the day of admission, or on the day of the operation.
- 2. Activity figures are elective first finished consultant episodes (FFCEs)
- 3. Figures are trust level aggregated to host health authority.
Sources:
Department of Health Patients Charter returns
Department of Health Hospital Episode Statistics