By . Harriet Arkell . PUBLISHED: . 07:54 EST, 2 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:45 EST, 2 December 2013 . Crisis: A shortage of hospital beds and surgeons are to blame for the high number of cancelled operations, new figures reveal (stock photo) Around 170 NHS operations are cancelled every day at the last minute as hospitals struggle to cope with a lack of beds, staff and faulty equipment, new figures reveal. A total of 30,415 elective operations were shelved between April and September this year on the day patients were due to have surgery or scheduled to arrive in hospital - a 12-year high. Experts blame a chronic shortage of beds with NHS trusts unable to juggle planned operations and run overstretched Accident and Emergency departments. Meanwhile other factors blamed for the high cancellation rate include administrative errors, earlier operations over-running, and emergency surgeries taking priority. The average daily rate of cancellations is 169 - higher than the average daily rate for the same period in any year since 2001. The average daily cancellation figure for April - September last year was 151 and the year before that 142. One in five hospitals has bed occupancy rates of more than 95 per cent and a handful of trusts are running at full capacity - leaving them unable to cope with swelling emergency admissions. News of the cancellations comes as NHS medical director Sir Bruce Keogh claimed a two-tier A&E should be created to ease pressure on 'an emergency service at its limit'. John Lister, of pressure group Health Emergency, said: 'Vast number of hospitals have no capacity to take in a mix of emergency and elective cases.' 'Emergencies will always take priority so if you fill your hospitals up with emergency cases then elective cases are going to be bounced back. 'These numbers show that hospitals can’t cope with the combined caseload.' The six-month figure, released by NHS England, is the highest it has been since 2001 when the number of cancelled elective operations, also revealed in NHS figures, topped 41,000. But Mr Lister warned: 'The squeeze is going to continue to tighten as A&E caseloads continue to be high and, in some cases, running at winter-peak levels right throughout the year.' Last month a National Audit Office survey found that bed occupancy rates averaged nearly 90 per cent across NHS trusts in England. They found that a fifth of all trusts reported rates of more than 95 per cent between January and March 2013. The number of elective operations being cancelled is at the highest level for years (stock photo) Bar chart illustrating the number of cancelled operations in England's NHS hospitals in April-September each year . The worst performing health trusts for cancelled operations between April - September this year included Barts in East London, the University Hospitals of Leicester Trust, and Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust. Financially troubled Barts Health Trust in east London cancelled 649 elective operations between January and June, the most in England. Its chief executive Peter Morris previously said the trust - which covers St Bartholomew’s Hospital and the Royal London - was at risk of 'financial failure' amid reports it was losing £2 million a week. The University Hospitals of Leicester Trust, meanwhile, cancelled 441 elective surgeries and Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust called off a further 296 operations. Both were labelled in ‘highest risk’ category for failing patients by the Care Quality Commission in October. St Bartholomew's Hospital in east London falls under Barts Health Trust, one of the worst for cancellations . The term ‘last minute’ is used by the NHS to describe cancellations on the same day surgery is scheduled or operations axed after a patient has arrived in hospital. As well as a chronic lack of beds, the NHS said operations were shelved because of staff shortages, faulty equipment, administrative errors and earlier scheduled operations over-running. The number of cancellations is usually higher in the winter, as numbers of A&E admissions rise further. An NHS England spokesman said: 'NHS England believes that cancellations should be avoided wherever possible as we recognise the concerns that patients face when this happens. 'Hospitals strive to use their beds as efficiently as possible, and at the same time need to respond to surges in demand when these occur. 'Such surges are usually due to an increase in the number of emergency admissions, and whilst health communities endeavour to plan for this, an above-expected rise in emergencies can lead to cancelled operations. 'This is not directly related to the performance of A&E Departments, but to the need to admit patients with sudden and severe illness and injury.' The spokesman added: 'An important aim of Sir Bruce Keogh's first stage review of urgent and emergency care is to reduce hospital admissions, where these can be safely avoided, and alleviate some of the pressure on hospital beds. 'Therefore, as the recommendations of the review are implemented over the next three to five years the chance that an operation will be cancelled at short notice, which is already very low, should reduce still further.'
Total 30,415 elective operations cancelled between April - September 2013 .
The daily average cancellation figure is highest since same period in 2001 .
NHS England blames lack of beds, staff, and faulty equipment for high rate .
High bed occupancy means hospitals struggle to fit in A&E admissions .
By . Harriet Arkell . PUBLISHED: . 07:54 EST, 2 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:45 EST, 2 December 2013 . Crisis: A shortage of hospital beds and surgeons are to blame for the high number of cancelled operations, new figures reveal (stock photo) Around 170 NHS operations are cancelled every day at the last minute as hospitals struggle to cope with a lack of beds, staff and faulty equipment, new figures reveal. A total of 30,415 elective operations were shelved between April and September this year on the day patients were due to have surgery or scheduled to arrive in hospital - a 12-year high. Experts blame a chronic shortage of beds with NHS trusts unable to juggle planned operations and run overstretched Accident and Emergency departments. Meanwhile other factors blamed for the high cancellation rate include administrative errors, earlier operations over-running, and emergency surgeries taking priority. The average daily rate of cancellations is 169 - higher than the average daily rate for the same period in any year since 2001. The average daily cancellation figure for April - September last year was 151 and the year before that 142. One in five hospitals has bed occupancy rates of more than 95 per cent and a handful of trusts are running at full capacity - leaving them unable to cope with swelling emergency admissions. News of the cancellations comes as NHS medical director Sir Bruce Keogh claimed a two-tier A&E should be created to ease pressure on 'an emergency service at its limit'. John Lister, of pressure group Health Emergency, said: 'Vast number of hospitals have no capacity to take in a mix of emergency and elective cases.' 'Emergencies will always take priority so if you fill your hospitals up with emergency cases then elective cases are going to be bounced back. 'These numbers show that hospitals can’t cope with the combined caseload.' The six-month figure, released by NHS England, is the highest it has been since 2001 when the number of cancelled elective operations, also revealed in NHS figures, topped 41,000. But Mr Lister warned: 'The squeeze is going to continue to tighten as A&E caseloads continue to be high and, in some cases, running at winter-peak levels right throughout the year.' Last month a National Audit Office survey found that bed occupancy rates averaged nearly 90 per cent across NHS trusts in England. They found that a fifth of all trusts reported rates of more than 95 per cent between January and March 2013. The number of elective operations being cancelled is at the highest level for years (stock photo) Bar chart illustrating the number of cancelled operations in England's NHS hospitals in April-September each year . The worst performing health trusts for cancelled operations between April - September this year included Barts in East London, the University Hospitals of Leicester Trust, and Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust. Financially troubled Barts Health Trust in east London cancelled 649 elective operations between January and June, the most in England. Its chief executive Peter Morris previously said the trust - which covers St Bartholomew’s Hospital and the Royal London - was at risk of 'financial failure' amid reports it was losing £2 million a week. The University Hospitals of Leicester Trust, meanwhile, cancelled 441 elective surgeries and Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust called off a further 296 operations. Both were labelled in ‘highest risk’ category for failing patients by the Care Quality Commission in October. St Bartholomew's Hospital in east London falls under Barts Health Trust, one of the worst for cancellations . The term ‘last minute’ is used by the NHS to describe cancellations on the same day surgery is scheduled or operations axed after a patient has arrived in hospital. As well as a chronic lack of beds, the NHS said operations were shelved because of staff shortages, faulty equipment, administrative errors and earlier scheduled operations over-running. The number of cancellations is usually higher in the winter, as numbers of A&E admissions rise further. An NHS England spokesman said: 'NHS England believes that cancellations should be avoided wherever possible as we recognise the concerns that patients face when this happens. 'Hospitals strive to use their beds as efficiently as possible, and at the same time need to respond to surges in demand when these occur. 'Such surges are usually due to an increase in the number of emergency admissions, and whilst health communities endeavour to plan for this, an above-expected rise in emergencies can lead to cancelled operations. 'This is not directly related to the performance of A&E Departments, but to the need to admit patients with sudden and severe illness and injury.' The spokesman added: 'An important aim of Sir Bruce Keogh's first stage review of urgent and emergency care is to reduce hospital admissions, where these can be safely avoided, and alleviate some of the pressure on hospital beds. 'Therefore, as the recommendations of the review are implemented over the next three to five years the chance that an operation will be cancelled at short notice, which is already very low, should reduce still further.'
hospitals struggle to cope with a lack of beds, staff and faulty equipment, new figures reveal. A total of 30,415 elective operations were shelved daily rate for the same period in any year since 2001. The average daily cancellation figure for figure, released by NHS England, is the highest for cancelled operations between April -