BBC Breakfast this morning has peer-reviewed research on NHS England operations cancelled in the last 24hrs, often because patients could not be prepared for them in time.

In February 2026, 10% of these operations were cancelled, around a third of those avoidably.

This is, of course, wasteful of resources and potentially life-threatening for those patients.

The media operating in Scotland are not, of course, covering this because there’s nothing in it for them here. What’s BBC Scotland’s headline story today? You know. Another desperate ferry story to try to stop Anas Sarwar having to ‘walk the plank’ in May.

Why?

From Public Health Scotland, also for February 2026:

In NHS Scotland, 8.9% (2,274) of planned operations were cancelled the day before or on the day the patient was due to be treated. 

Source: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancelled-planned-operations/cancelled-planned-operations-month-ending-28-february-2026/

Were they to report this, we’d be told that 10% and 8.9% are similar figures but this 1.1% difference is 1.1% of 25 520 or 281 cases in February 2026, more than 3 000 in a year NOT having their operations cancelled who would have had them cancelled had they lived in England.