NHS Scotland: Thousands of operations cancelled at the last minute due to hospital capacity and staffing issues

According to Public Health Scotland figures, from March 2023 to February 2024, 24,802 of the 280,298 planned operations in Scotland were cancelled on the day of the surgery, or the day before.

Nearly 25,000 NHS Scotland operations have been cancelled at the last minute over the last year, figures reveal, with at least a quarter due to hospital capacity and staffing issues.

Public Health Scotland figures show that from March 2023 to February 2024, 24,802 of the 280,298 planned operations in Scotland were cancelled on the day of the surgery, or the day before.

This is equivalent to 8.8 per cent, meaning one in 12 Scots awaiting surgery have had their procedure postponed with short notice.

From March 2023 to February 2024, 24,802 of the 280,298 planned operations in Scotland were cancelled on the day of the surgery, or the day before

The figures vary over the year, however, with ten per cent of all planned operations in January of this year cancelled.

The reasons for cancellation also vary, including capacity issues, clinical decisions and patient cancellation. The Scottish Government said that in February 2024 - the latest figures available - 513 of the 2113 cancellations were due to hospital capacity and staffing.

It comes after a Scottish Labour councillor, Clare Steel of West Dunbartonshire Council, took to social media to share her and her daughter’s story of having life-changing surgery cancelled by the NHS at the last minute.

Councillor Steel’s 17-year-old daughter, Katie Steel, was due to undergo surgery relating to her scoliosis on Thursday - but after being prepped for surgery, she was woken up to be told the surgery had been cancelled.

The Scottish Government said that in February 2024 - the latest figures available - 513 of the 2113 cancellations were due to hospital capacity and staffing.Jeff Moore/PA Wire

Speaking on X, formerly Twitter, councillor Steel said she was told there were not enough intensive care staff to care for her afterwards.

Steel said: “After all the weeks of preparation, and even having a pre-med this morning to go to theatre, they’ve came and said there’s no beds, there’s no staff today apparently, so they can’t do it.

“We’re all devastated. Her surgeons are devastated”.

Councillor Steel added: We are just devastated for Katie and her spine team, but the thought of going through all this emotionally & mentally again next month when hopefully they will try again.

“Apparently we aren't the only family that [this] has happened to with spine surgery in Edinburgh Sick Kids, it's happening a lot.

“The trauma of this whole process just to get to [the] point of heading to theatre, to then be told she can't go to the intensive care because there isn't enough staff today.

“They should have known and anticipated this, they had advance information of knowing Katie was coming in for weeks.

“I can't thank Katie's surgeon and his team enough for what they do, they share the same frustrations as us.”

Dr Hugh Pearson, deputy chair of the BMA’s Scottish council, said NHS Scotland “has long been struggling to keep up with the increasing demand being place upon it”.

“The expectation on what it can do with the resources it has are mismatched,” Dr Pearson said.

“We are in the middle of a medical workforce crisis with increasing and underestimated consultant vacancies, staff are exhausted and burnt out.

“We know many are choosing to retire early, move away or leave the NHS entirely.”

Dr Pearson added that Scotland is also seeing in A&E departments across the country “levels of demand that are having consultants question patient safety”.

“These reports only go to highlight what is a whole system failure,” he said.

“To fix the front door of the NHS there must be focus on all parts including primary and social care.

“There are no easy answers on the future of our health service, but it is clear that we must not shy away from exploring possible solutions to ensure we retain an equitable service that is free for everyone at the point of use.

“BMA Scotland has been calling on the Scottish Government to have a national conversation, looking at how we get to grips with solving the health crisis we face, and create an NHS that is sustainable for generations to come.

“The longer we take to have the conversation the worse the problems will get.”

Colin Poolman, the Scotland director of the Royal College of Nursing, said the figures are “further evidence, if it was needed, of the pressures on our health services” and added that they “paint a worrying picture” about the sustainability of the NHS in Scotland.

“Stubbornly high vacancy rates for nursing staff are clearly having a direct impact,” Mr Poolman said.

“We really need an updated National Workforce Strategy that is more rigorous than the previous version, with proper workforce planning, based on current and future demand, to ensure Scotland’s health and care services have the right numbers of staff with the right skills.

“Scotland simply doesn’t have enough nursing staff and the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce, led by the Cabinet Secretary, has been set up to address this.

“The situation is desperate, and the Scottish Government must provide the investment, and the political will, needed to ensure the Taskforce delivers meaningful change that tackles the nursing recruitment and retention crisis and delivers a sustainable nursing workforce into the future.”

Scottish Labour’s health spokesperson, Dame Jackie Baillie, said: “It is simply unacceptable that so many operations are being cancelled only a day before they are due to take place.

“With so many Scots on waiting lists and vital NHS projects being cancelled, the risk of the crisis in our NHS deepening is clear.

“Neil Gray is asleep at the wheel – it’s time for action to support NHS workers so that patients get the treatment they need.”

The Scottish Conservative’s shadow health secretary, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, said: “These appalling figures show the heavy price patients are paying for the monumental failures of Humza Yousaf’s flimsy recovery plan.

“Frontline services have not been remobilised and these late cancellations will take a heavy toll on patients both mentally and physically.

“Consultants have been warning about the impact on patient care due to the SNP’s dire workforce planning but have routinely being ignored.

“Coupled with the SNP’s failure to eradicate delayed discharge – as they promised to do nine years ago – our hospitals simply don’t have the capacity they require.

“Neil Gray must get a grip of this crisis and ensure operations go ahead as planned. He should start by adopting our plans for a modern, efficient and local health service.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: ”Surgical procedures can be cancelled or postponed for a number of reasons.

“These figures include procedures cancelled for clinical reasons, and those cancelled by the patient.

“The latest figures for February show that only 2.1 per cent of operations were cancelled due to capacity or non-clinical reasons – a total of 513.

“The number of performed operations has been steadily increasing since the pandemic restrictions first affected services in March 2020.

“We are working closely with health boards across Scotland to maximise capacity and ensure patients who have had operations cancelled are seen as quickly as possible.”