170 vital operations cancelled in a year by Black Country health trust
Nearly 170 urgent operations were cancelled in a year by a health trust in the Black Country – more than 90 per cent of the total across the Black Country and Staffordshire.
Some 183 procedures were called off from February 2014 to January 2015. But 169 cancellations happened at the trust which runs Sandwell Hospital and City Hospital in Winson Green. And four were put back for a second time – the only area where this happened. In contrast to these figures, there were just nine cancellations at Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.
There were also five at University Hospital North Midlands NHS Trust, which runs Stafford Hospital.
Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust 169 cancelled
Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust nine cancelled
University Hospital North Midlands NHS Trust five cancelled
Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust 0
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust 0[/breakout]
The number of operations being cancelled at Sandwell and City hospitals hit a year-long high of 28 in December last year, but this since dropped to eight in January.
The figures have been branded 'shocking' by an MP, and come just days after a watchdog said the trust needs to raise standards.
West Bromwich MP Tom Watson said: "I have warned before the NHS is going into crisis and these shocking figures only go to show that further cuts will send hospital services into a nosedive."
And now these latest figures, uncovered by the Express & Star, reveal the pressure on services.
There were 18 cancelled operations in November, 17 in October, 16 in September, 14 in August, 27 in July, 17 in June, 15 in May, eight in April and just one in March, with none in February 2014.
There was one operation in each of May, June, July and September that were cancelled for the second time.
During the 12 months there were no cancellations at all in Dudley or Walsall. And in Wolverhampton, there was one in January this year, two in December, one in October and April, and two in July.
In Staffordshire there was one in January, three in December and one in November.
Bosses at the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust say they have been hit by an outbreak of flu and an influx of admissions to A&E.
Rachel Barlow, chief operating officer for the trust, said cancelling operations was a 'difficult decision' and added: "At the time our hospitals were extremely busy with increased emergency hospital admissions, compounded by high levels of flu."
