MOST non-urgent operations at Worcestershire’s three major hospitals are being carried out as normal, despite claims all elective procedures had been cancelled until after the Easter Bank Holiday.

Although it was reported elsewhere this morning that all non-emergency operations due to be carried out at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Kidderminster Hospital and Redditch’s Alexandra Hospital this week had been cancelled, the organisation has said this is not the case.

A spokesman from Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust – which runs the three sites – said some procedures due to be carried out at the Royal had been cancelled in an effort to prepare for the busy Easter period and to help deal with pressures on services.

“However, it is business as usual on the Kidderminster and Alexandra sites and wherever possible Worcestershire Royal patients are instead having their procedures at both these sites over this period,” she said.

“Whilst it is always regrettable when any procedures are cancelled, we have taken this temporary decision to ensure we have sufficient capacity to care for our emergency patients at this time.”

All three hospitals have been under unprecedented levels of pressure since before Christmas, leading to increasing waiting times and an ever-lengthening operations backlog.

The latest figures show the trust currently has a backlog of 22,868 patients waiting for an elective operation, 2,489 of whom have been on the list longer than the NHS-mandated 18 weeks.