Royal Bolton is bucking the national and regional trend when it comes to cancellations of elective surgeries.

Fewer surgeries were cancelled at the last minute at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust in the third quarter of 2022/23 – October to December last year – than the same time the previous year.

NHS data shows that there were 138 last minute cancellations during that time period, down from 142 a year before.

NHS England suspended collecting data on cancelled operations from April 2020 through September 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but since restarting, the number of cancelled operations across England has risen by 10 per cent in the last year.

And Bolton’s neighbouring trusts, including Northern Care Alliance (NCA) and Manchester University Foundation (MUF), also saw increases.

The NCA – which serves patients in Salford, Bury, Oldham, and Rochdale - saw its cancellations rise from 418 to 452, whereas the MUF’s figures went up from 339 to 368.

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Rae Wheatcroft, chief operating officer at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our staff are working extremely hard to drive down our backlog elective waiting lists, with initiatives including increasing capacity for some services, improved efficiencies, and building additional theatre space.

“We know that treatment for each of our patients is incredibly important to them and would like to reassure them that we are doing everything we can to treat them as quickly as we can possibly can.”

The data also shows that 22 of the 138 patients who had elective surgeries cancelled between October and December last year has to wait more than 28 days to be treated – up one from the same period 12 months previously.

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Rae added that anyone who is waiting for treatment can find advice on managing their physical and mental wellbeing on the Greater Manchester While You Wait website.

Commenting on the national picture, Tim Mitchell, vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: “No surgeon wants to be in the position of telling a patient their surgery has to be cancelled but the very high demand we have seen in emergency departments since the summer, and problems discharging patients who are ready to leave hospital when there is a lack of social care, mean this is too often what has to happen.

"Gaps in the workforce also play a huge part. Often there will be a surgeon available to operate, but no theatre nurses or anaesthetists."

Earlier this month, NHS England announced 37 new surgical hubs, 10 expanded existing hubs and 81 new theatres dedicated to elective care.

Mr Mitchell added: "We would like to see surgical hubs established in every area of the country with a particular focus on underserved areas and struggling to bring down waiting times.

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"All of this will also mean nothing in the long term unless we have a resilient workforce to staff hubs. The Government’s much-anticipated workforce plan cannot come soon enough."

The Department for Health and Social care said bringing down waiting lists and providing the highest quality care is a "top priority", and that the rise in cancellations was driven by the increase in booked operations.

A spokesperson added: "The NHS has already made strong progress in tackling the Covid backlogs, virtually eliminating waits of over two years for treatment – the first target in the Elective Recovery Plan – and all efforts are being made to deliver the next ambition to eliminate waits of 18 months or more by April."