NHS Borders continues to have the highest cancelled operations rate out of any health board in Scotland, and was forced to cancel one in ten operations due to a lack of staffing or beds.
The ISD Scotland health statistics, published today, show that in March 2018, 101 out of the 458 planned operations that month were cancelled, for a variety of reasons.
Fifty of these cancellations were due to “capacity or non-clinical reasons” by the health board. This is defined as a shortage of staff, beds or equipment or because a previous theatre session overran.
NHS Borders had the highest percentage of cancellations out of any health board in Scotland and had the highest proportion of cancellations due to non-clinical reasons.
This has been a long standing issue for the health board, and was first raised by local MP John Lamont back in 2015.
Commenting, John Lamont MP said: “Operations have to be cancelled for a variety of reasons, sometimes for the safety of a patient or by the patient themselves.
“However, for the hospital to be forced to cancel so many operations because the hospital is lacking beds, doctors or nurses is extremely worrying.
“NHS staff are being let down by the Scottish Government who are ignoring this issue, hoping it will simply go away. The truth is that cancellations have been an issue in the Borders for months if not years.
“The time has come for the Scottish Government to look again at whether health boards with large rural populations like NHS Borders are being sufficiently supported.”