Tens of thousands of operations cancelled because of staff shortages and faulty equipment, NHS figures show

Tens of thousands of people have have had their operations cancelled because of staff shortages and faulty medical equipment, according to newly revealed NHS figures. 

The number of procedures called off by hospitals for non-clinical reasons has increased by 32 per cent in the last two years, the statistics obtained via a freedom of information (FOI) request. Almost 4,000 more were scrapped in 2018 than in 2016.    

 They also show that of the 79,000 operations to be cancelled last year, 20 per cent were scrapped because of staffing issues and equipment failures.

It comes as the staff vacancies continue to put the health service under strain, with the NHS reporting last year it was short of 100,000 staff including, 10,000 doctors and 35,000 nurses.

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Source: The Independent, 5 November 2019