Scheduled operations in Scots hospitals reached the highest number since the start of the pandemic, last month.
The latest figures for the month of March show that there were 22,000 operations due to take place over the course of the month.
However, the Public Health Scotland data revealed that almost one in 10 (9.6%) of these was cancelled either on the day surgery was due to take place, or the day before.
Of the 2,109 operations that were cancelled, a total of 744 were put back because by the hospital because of clinical reasons, with 739 surgeries cancelled by the patient.
However, a total of 2.5% of planned surgeries (553 operations) had to be cancelled by the hospital for non-clinical or capacity reasons.
And NHS Highland cancelled more than a fifth (22.1%) of operations in March - the highest proportion of any health board in Scotland.
The was "due to limited bed capacity, following a high number of Covid-19 patients", according to the Public Health Scotland report
It comes as the number of operations scheduled by the health service reached its highest level since February 2020, when there were 27,645 surgeries planned.
In March 2020 that fell to 20,192, and the coronavirus pandemic meant that by April that year, the number of scheduled operations dropped to just 3,406.
However, when the figures for March this year are compared with February 2020 - the month before the first Covid lockdown - there were a fifth (20.4%) fewer operations scheduled.
Public Health Scotland said: "The number of operations that services are able to schedule continues to be impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said that planned operations were up by "over 15% on the previous month", describing this as a "significant positive step in the right direction" despite the presence of the BA.2 Omicron subvariant of Covid.
The spokesperson said: "We are working with NHS Boards to get those who have had treatments or procedures postponed due to Covid-19 the care they need as quickly as possible.
"Throughout the pandemic NHS Boards have ensured that urgent, maternity and vital cancer services continue as usual and have worked hard to ensure vital cancer care remains in place where clinically agreed.
"In March 2022, almost 20,000 planned operations took place across NHS Scotland, an increase of over 15% on the previous month. This is a significant positive step in the right direction, despite this being in the midst of the peak of the BA.2 subvariant wave."
The Scottish Government has also published a national Clinical Prioritisation Framework for Supporting Elective Care, "which provides NHS Boards with key principles to support the prioritising of their elective care waiting lists during the Covid-19 pandemic", the spokesperson said.
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