HYWEL DDA University Health Board has responded to figures released following a Freedom of Information Act request made by Plaid Cymru.
The request revealed that there were 174,996 cancelled operations at hospitals in Wales during 2013-14, 2014-15 and the first six months of 2015-16.
The figures showed that there were more than 6,600 cancellations because ward beds were not available, more than 16,000 as a result of clinical staff being unavailable and over 2,700 were called off because equipment was not available.
Ceredigion’s Elin Jones AM, Plaid Cymru Shadow Minister for Health, said: “Every cancelled operation only serves to increase further the dire waiting times patients face for many operations. It is important to remember the distress a cancellation can cause to patients that might have been waiting a long time in pain for an operation.
“Patients must also ensure resources are not wasted and operations cancelled as a result of failing to turn up or not informing their hospital in time if the appointment is inconvenient. Too many are cancelled for these reasons.”
The figures, which cover two and a half years, suggest that while 25,300 operations have been cancelled due to one shortage or another, just under 150,000 operations are cancelled for some other reason.
If one factors in the clinical shortage cancellations as one discrete cause the number of operations cancelled over 30 full weeks is equivalent to 843 operations per week cancelled for that reason. That leaves 5,000 operations a week cancelled for some other cause.
Locally, in the Hywel Dda Health Board area alone there have been 27,821 cancellations during the period, including 3,413 at Bronglais, 8,924 at Glangwili and 5,778 at Withybush.
If the proportions in the national picture hold true for the Hywel Dda UHB area, that means that of the 27,821 cancellations just under 15%, approximately 4,200 or 140 a week are cancelled for reason of clinical shortage with the remaining 23,600 operations over thirty months being cancelled for some other reason.
WE ASKED THE UHB WHY OPERATIONS HAD BEEN CANCELLED
A spokesperson from Hywel Dda University Health Board told The Herald: “The most significant number of cancellations are by patients themselves; some are cancelled due to clinical reasons, for example if the patient is unfit for surgery.
“Regrettably there are occasions when the Health Board has to postpone due to other circumstances.
“Every effort is made to minimise distress to our patients when no other option is available but to cancel an appointment or procedure and every attempt is made to rebook the patient as soon as possible with minimum delay.“
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