The number of operations being cancelled in Dumfries and Galloway is at its highest level for more than four years.
In May, 10.9 per cent of operations scheduled were cancelled either on the day or the day before – the third highest level among Scotland’s health boards.
The situation was revealed in Public Health Scotland’s monthly update on cancelled operations.
Across Scotland, 21,895 operations were due to be carried out in May, a significant increase on the 18,392 planned in April.
Dumfries and Galloway was due to see 1,425 operations carried out – the highest number since June last year.
But of those 1,425 operations, 156 were cancelled the day before or on the day the patient was due to be treated, meaning 10.9 per cent of procedures didn’t go ahead.
That’s the highest percentage since February, 2018, when 11.5 per cent of the 1,394 operations due to take place had to be cancelled.
NHS Highland and NHS Lanarkshire were the only Scottish health boards to see a larger proportion of cancelled operations, with the average cancellation rate across Scotland sitting at 8.7 per cent.
The April national figure was 9.3 per cent, with the Dumfries and Galloway rate sitting at 8.3 per cent that month,
Of the 1,56 May cancellations, 67 were cancelled by the hospital for clinical reasons and 42 for non-clinical reasons. 41 were cancelled by patients with the remaining six cancelled for other reasons.
A health board spokesman said: “Like many other boards, NHS Dumfries and Galloway is seeing a significant impact on staffing as a result of cases of Covid-19 in the community. This can unfortunately result in short-notice limitations on our ability to provide scheduled services.
“Patient flow out of hospital is another particular challenge at present, ensuring people can be discharged into the community so as to be able to accommodate those with a medical need.”
