§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many cancelled operations in Greater London were carried out within(a) 4 weeks, (b) 8 weeks, (c) 12 weeks, (d) 16 weeks and (e) over 16 weeks of their original cancellation; [101304]
(2) how many operations in Greater London were (a) cancelled and (b) cancelled less than two days before the due date in each of the last 12 months. [101318]
§ Mr. HuttonQuarterly data are collected on the number of operations cancelled by the hospital for non-clinical reasons at the last minute (for example on the day patients are due to arrive or after arrival in hospital or on the day of their operation), the number of operations cancelled by the hospital for non-clinical reasons on the day of surgery and the number of patients who have not been treated within 28 days of a cancellation on the day of surgery
Cancelled operations data at England level and by national health service trust and strategic health authority level are available in the Library and on the Department's Contraception website at: www.doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivitv/data.htm.
Since 1 April 2002, the NHS Plan cancelled operations guarantee has been in place, which states that: if a patient's operation is cancelled by the hospital on the day of surgery for non-clinical reasons, the hospital will have to offer another binding date within a maximum of the next 28 days or fund the patient's treatment at the time and hospital of the patients choice.