MORE than 100 patients at a hospital trust have had operations cancelled at the last minute.

Some 174 non-urgent operations, such as hip or knee procedures, were cancelled by East Lancashire Hospitals Trust (ELHT) at the last minute in the three months to September this year.

The NHS England data covers cancellations for non-clinical reasons, such as bed or staff shortages.

There was also two patients not treated within 28 days of a last minute elective cancellation, according to the figures.

But the data shows there were fewer cancellations at the trust than during the same three month period in 2017, where there were 192.

The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has blamed the increase in cancellations on the over-stretched NHS.

Nationally, the number of operations that were cancelled at the last minute for non-clinical reasons was lower between July to September this year, compared to the same period last year.

However, this will provide little comfort to the patients whose operations were among the 18,460 last minute cancellations in that three-month period this year.

Professor Cliff Shearman, vice president of the RCS and a vascular surgeon, said:“These figures do not bode well for the winter months ahead, when hospitals traditionally see an increase in pressure on already over-stretched NHS resources.

"Behind these numbers are individual patients who are in pain and potentially unable to work, or carry out day to day tasks, as they wait for NHS treatment.

“The government’s forthcoming long term plan for the NHS should include a commitment to increase hospital bed capacity for planned surgery and transform the way we provide care for older patients, so that they can be treated closer to home.”

Natalie Hudson, deputy director of operations at ELHT, said the decision to postpone or cancel an operation is only taken after a great deal of thought.

She said: “We do sympathise with the frustration felt by patients, but there are times when medical emergencies have to take priority over elective (planned) operations, and occasionally, operations are cancelled for reasons beyond our control.

"Our staff work hard to keep patient cancellations to the absolute minimum and the opening of the Lancashire Elective Centre at Burnley General Teaching Hospital, where a large number of elective operations now take place, has helped to ensure cancellations are minimised.

“The most recent evidence from NHS England shows that the number of cancelled operations at East Lancashire Hospitals fell by 10 per cent in comparison to the same period in 2017."