NHS cancels record number of planned operations at the last minute, data shows

A record number of planned operations were cancelled at the last minute across England in the year to June, figures show.

Meanwhile, the proportion of patients waiting longer than the recommended 28 days for a new date for treatment remained higher than before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Recent data from NHS England, analysed by the PA news agency’s RADAR service, shows providers cancelled 85,018 elective operations at the last minute for non-clinical reasons in the year to June.

The figure is a 7% increase on the 79,757 reported in 2024, and the highest figure for a 12-month period since comparable records began in 2003/04.

However, they only accounted for 0.97% of the 8.8 million elective admissions recorded for the year, which was in line with the year before.

Data collection was paused in April 2020 due to the pandemic and resumed in the last three months of 2021.

While the number of operations cancelled at the last minute remained broadly similar to pre-pandemic figures, the proportion of patients not treated within 28 days of cancellation has increased.

NHS England requires hospitals cancelling at the last minute to offer a new operation date within 28 days or arrange treatment at the time and hospital of the patient’s choice.

Following cancellations in the year to June, some 22% (19,106) of patients were not treated within 28 days.

Although this was down slightly from 23% the previous year, it was significantly higher than the 9% in the year to June 2019.

Danielle Jefferies, senior analyst at The King’s Fund, said the figures are “not surprising”.

She explained the rising level of patients waiting longer than the target is due to short-term factors – such as growing waiting lists, staff strikes and seasonal pressures – and more “systemic” issues including understaffing, a lack of beds and high rates of staff sickness.

Ms Jefferies said: “It must be really hard for patients because it means they are waiting even longer for their care.

“We know it’s a physical struggle for them, and having to wait longer probably impacts their mental health as well.”

She also called on the Government to resolve industrial action to avoid relying on fewer staff and prioritising emergency over elective care, and to address increasing elective care waits.

It comes after resident doctors in England staged five consecutive days of strike action in July in a dispute with the Government over pay.

Representatives of the British Medical Association (BMA) are currently in negotiations.

Rory Deighton, acute and community care director at the NHS Confederation, said: “NHS leaders and their teams have been working incredibly hard to drive down waiting lists and good progress has been made, unfortunately, however it is sometimes necessary to cancel a very small proportion of operations.

“Healthcare leaders know well the dismay this can cause to patients who can be left waiting in pain.”

He said there are various reasons for cancellations, including rising demand for emergency care, which he said has been increasingly frequent since the pandemic.

“More than a decade of being starved of capital investment has also left much of the NHS estate with crumbling buildings or outdated equipment which compromise patient safety and can often mean limits on how many operations can be performed,” he added.

An NHS spokesperson said: “We fully recognise the impact any cancelled operation has for patients and NHS staff across the country are working hard to reduce waiting lists, with almost 1,500 more patients receiving treatment every day compared to last year, despite the knock-on effect from industrial action and a winter of record demand.

“But we know there is more to do reduce disruption to care for patients and NHS teams are continuing to reform and improve services to help reduce waits, with both fewer cancellations between April and June compared to last year and more patients being seen within 28 days of a cancellation.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “This government is working to reverse more than a decade of neglect to our NHS, and despite unnecessary industrial action, we are making real progress.

“Waiting lists are down by more than a quarter of a million in just one year and we have delivered 4.9 million additional appointments, more than double the promised two million.

“Even though there are record numbers of people coming forward for treatment, we are getting on with the job of delivering for patients, with the lowest number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment in three years.”