The number of operations that are postponed is not collected centrally. An operation that is rescheduled to a time within 24 hours of the original scheduled operation is recorded as a postponement and not as a cancellation. The following table shows the number of operations cancelled at the last minute for non-clinical reasons in the years requested.
Number 2005-06 149 2006-07 38 Notes: 1. 2006-07 data only covers quarter 1 and quarter 2. Other quarters' data are not yet available. 2. A last minute cancellation is one that occurs on the day the patient was due to arrive, after they have arrived in hospital or on the day of their operation. Source: Department of Health dataset QMCO