Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many operations were (a) cancelled and (b) postponed for patients with (i) cancer, (ii) heart disease (iii) other surgeries categorised as urgent in December 2017 and January 2018.
The National Emergency Pressures Panel (NEPP) met on 2 January 2018 and recommended that non-urgent operations be deferred until 31 January 2018 to increase capacity for emergency cases. NEPP’s recommendations to trusts were clear that cancer operations and procedures where deferral would lead to a deterioration in the patient’s condition were not in scope and should continue as planned.
NHS England and NHS Improvement will undertake a review of the arrangements and interventions undertaken this winter, including the recommendations issued by NEPP on the deferment of patients’ routine elective treatment. For those patients who have not had new appointments, cancelled operations should be rescheduled at the earliest opportunity, taking into account patients’ clinical need.
The Government has supported the National Health Service to manage winter pressures with £337 million additional funding.