100,000 operations cancelled

New information uncovered under the Freedom of Information Act has revealed that over 100,000 NHS operations were cancelled last year for non-clinical reasons.

More than 10,000 operations were cancelled because of bed shortages, nearly 4,000 because of equipment failure and over 11,000 because of staffing shortages.

The Shadow Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, said it was "unacceptable" that these figures were so high. He explained that this is due to the Labour government's over-complex targets regime, and not down to overworked NHS staff:

"NHS staff are doing the best they can, but how can they plan patients' care properly when they are continually hampered by Labour's top-down targets?"

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