From Public Health Scotland today:
Of all cancelled planned operations during April 2023, for NHSScotland, 606 (3.1%) were cancelled by the hospital based on clinical reasons, 655 (3.3%) were cancelled by the patient, 387 (2%) were cancelled by the hospital due to capacity or non-clinical reasons, and 85 (0.4%) were cancelled due to other reasons.
https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancelled-planned-operations/cancelled-planned-operations-month-ending-30-april-2023/
Only those operations cancelled due to, for example, staff sickness, an unexpected rush of emergency operations resulting from road crashes, work-related accidents or whatever can be seen as any kind of failure.
That NHS Scotland could have done 98% on time if patients themselves or doctors on their behalf had not called off some operations, is frankly stunning success in such a large and complex system subject the vagaries of human behaviour.
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People are having operation after waiting a bit longer because of Covid. Waiting a bit longer with manageable conditions rather than dying of Covid. Getting eye operations, saved from heart attacks, getting injections in knees, repeat prescriptions, Getting Doctors appointments if necessary. Not waiting long. Despite Brexit and the lose of healthcare workers, SNHS is still doing a magnificent job. The people who use it most are the elderly. The fragility of the human body. The Tories cut NHS funding. The Scottish Gov has to mitigate the cuts,
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”NHS planned operations ? Move on , please . Nothing to see here !
Now , what about those ferries – what a fiasco that is ….. ” BBC news conference .
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Was thinking similar – Calum (ity) Watson’s latest exciting installment on the Glen Sannox is the #1 story on Scotland and Scotland/Politics pages, despite 99.9% of Scots rolling their eyes and muttering “ffs not again…”
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O/T I spotted this in The Mirror yesterday, 5 June: ‘Rishi Sunak takes helicopter for 74 mile journey to Kent – that would be an hour on train
‘The PM flew from the capital to Dover where he is desperately try and convince critics his small boats strategy is working
‘An RAF Agusta Westland A109 – believed to have been transporting Mr Sunak took off from Battersea Helicopter just after 8am.
‘HAD HE CAUGHT THE 8.04AM TRAIN FROM LONDON ST PANCRAS, HE WOULD HAVE ARRIVED AT THE COASTAL TOWN AT 9.12AM. (my emphasis)
‘Last week The Mirror reported that he had racked up a £38,500 bill in April by flying to Tory events in Wales and Scotland. He has previously been flown to engagements in Southampton – even though it would only have taken an hour by train.’
The BBC News website covered the PM’s visit to Dover under this headline: ‘Chris Mason: Sunak gives striking prominence to migration challenge’
(By the way, as Chris Mason is the BBC’s Political Editor why is his name appearing IN THE ACTUAL HEADLINE?)
The BBC of course would not stoop to the level of a tabloid, would it? It made no mention of something as trivial as the PM’s mode of transport!
But then only three days ago this headline appeared in the Scotland section of the BBC News website: ‘Green minister Lorna Slater’s private ferry charter cost £1,200’.
‘We were given details: ‘The cost for Ms Slater and her party would have been £75.20 had they been able to use the ferry.’
And previously, on 12 May there had been this headline in the same section of the BBC News website: ‘Green minister Lorna Slater criticised for using private ferry’.
And the BBC told us in the same article: ‘.. THE CONSERVATIVES QUESTIONED why Ms Slater did not take a CalMac ferry.’
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NHS England’s reporting of cancelled elective operations throws up some interesting information – see https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancelled-elective-operations/
NHS England measures: ‘‘When a patient’s operation is cancelled by the hospital at the last minute for non clinical reasons ..’ : ‘last minute’ is defined as ‘ON THE DAY THE PATIENT WAS DUE TO ARRIVE, AFTER THE PATIENT HAS ARRIVED IN HOSPITAL OR ON THE DAY OF THE OPERATION OR SURGERY.’ (my emphasis)
NHS Scotland measures: ‘‘the number of operations in NHSScotland that were cancelled THE DAY BEFORE OR ON THE DAY OF TREATMENT.’
It notes that (a) ‘Data on cancelled operations in Wales are not published.’ and (b) ‘Data on cancelled elective operations in Northern Ireland are not published.’
NHS England publishes data on cancellations quarterly, NHS Scotland does so monthly.
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