Last-minute knee op cancellations 'costing millions'

CANCELLING knee replacement surgeries is "unforgivable", academics have said, as a new study highlighted how postponing operations is costing the NHS millions and increasing hospital waiting lists.

- 

As well as the economic cost, cancelled procedures come at a "great cost" to patients, researchers from the University of Bristol said.

A new study examined cancellations across six NHS hospitals - in Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland - over five years between April 2018 and March 2023.

During this period 17,223 total knee replacement operations were completed and 9,403 were cancelled.

A quarter (25%) of the cancellations were less than 24 hours before surgery, and 60% were within two to 14 days, researchers wrote in The Bone & Joint Journal.

The research team, led by academics at the National Institute for Health and Care Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, pointed out that each operation cancelled at short notice costs the NHS a "lost tariff" of between £6,500 and £11,000.

"The loss of a minimum £6,500 per case in the five-year period across six hospitals adds up to over £15.5 million, or approximately £518,000 per hospital per year," they said.

They said that more than 110,000 total knee replacements are performed yearly in the UK.

They point out cancellations "affects the length of NHS waiting lists"