THE number of cancelled elective operations at Worcestershire’s three major hospitals rocketed in the first three months of this year in comparison with the year before.

New figures show 154 operations at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Kidderminster Hospital and Redditch’s Alexandra Hospital were cancelled in January, February and March 2014, but 250 in the same three months this year.

This comes as a national report has shown 20,464 procedures were cancelled across England in the first three months of the year – the highest number for ten years.

The figures also show in 23 per cent of cases in the first three months of this year cancelled operations were not rescheduled within the NHS-mandated 28 days, in comparison with 14 per cent 12 months previously.

Medical director for surgery at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust – which runs the three hospitals – Graham James said in some cases – for example when surgeons are dealing with patients from a major accident or other life-threatening cases – it was considered appropriate to cancel non-urgent procedures.

“We would like to reassure patients that our clinicians do not take these decisions lightly and they are reviewed on a daily basis,” he said.

“If, unfortunately, operations have to be cancelled, every effort is made to reschedule them as soon as possible.

“In order to avoid this situation an alternative date will be offered as close to the original date of surgery as possible at one of our three sites.”

This winter saw the trust under a serious amount of pressure, with far more patients visiting A&E than were predicted and as a result many operations had to be cancelled to make space for emergency cases.

The organisation currently has a backlog of 23,654 patients waiting for elective operations, 2,921 – or 12.35 per cent – of whom have been waiting longer than the NHS-mandated 18 weeks.

In an effort to clear the backlog the trust recently opened a new modular theatre at the Alex, which is expected to be able to carry out 50 procedures, including hernia repairs, gall bladder operations, women’s surgery and breast surgery, a week.

Mr James said he hoped the new theatre – which includes an anaesthetic room, operating theatre and two-bed recovery area and is attached to the main hospital building by a specially constructed access corridor – would help clear the backlog and ensure patients were treated as quickly as possible.

“We would like to thank our patients, their relatives and carers for their understanding during these challenging times and apologise for any inconvenience caused,” he said.

An NHS England spokesman said: "Cancellations should be avoided wherever possible as we recognise the concerns that patients face when this happens.

"However, the level of cancellations in this quarter has remained low in the context of the millions of operations performed in the NHS each year, and the unprecedented level of demand we have seen across the whole health system this winter."