The number of cancelled operations is on the increase at a group of West Midlands hospitals, because wards are being shut down to tackle infections.

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Sandwell, City and Rowley Regis hospitals, has been told that there has been a shortage of beds as a result.

Across the trust the number of cancellations leapt to 81 in September, nearly double the 42 that were cancelled in August, but then decreased again to 47 last month.

Other reasons for cancellations include consultant sickness absence, administration failures and equipment failure. The problems were revealed at a meeting of trust bosses yesterday, which was held at City Hospital in Birmingham.

Chief executive John Adler explained the trust was being forced to tackle the threat of infections.

He said: “Part of the reason why there was a jump in cancelled operations is because we closed wards to tackle infection. It was still the right thing to do, otherwise it becomes part of an ongoing problem, but that’s why we are struggling.”

Robert White, director of finance and performance management, who gave the board a monthly performance monitoring report, added that the aim was to get the number of operations cancelled down to 0.8 per cent from the current 1.5 per cent.

He said: “There was a bit of pressure around operations in September, so there’s a bit of work to do to get down to the 0.8 per cent target by the year end.”

A report to the meeting also revealed levels of C. Diff infections were within target for September, the number of cases at City Hospital rose sharply.

Several wards had to be closed so deep cleaning could take place. The number of cases of MRSA increased to three during the month, with figures totalling six for the last three months, compared with two for  the first three months.

The next meeting of the board will be held on December 6.