MORE than a dozen urgent operations at Dorset County Hospital have been cancelled in the space of 12 months, new figures show.

Figures released by NHS Digital show that 17 urgent operations were cancelled between April 2017 and March 2018 while 364 elective (non-urgent) operations were called off.

NHS Digital said that it classed urgent operations as those which include life-saving intervention, treating the acute onset of life or limb-threatening conditions, or early interventions for serious but not immediately life-threatening conditions.

Meanwhile, elective surgeries are ones that are planned in advance, rather than one that’s done in an emergency situation.

Typically, hospitals can cancel urgent operations if there are no free beds in the intensive care unit – either due to increased emergency admission or slow discharge of patients.

Commenting on the figures, Royal College of Surgeons vice-president Professor Neil Mortensen said: “Cancelling operations causes great anxiety for patients and leaves them waiting longer in pain or discomfort.

“In some cases, patients can deteriorate or develop complications, and their outcomes are often worse the longer they wait for treatment.”

“In the context of the many operations the NHS carries out each year, the total number of urgent operations cancelled is small.

“However, it is extremely stressful for patients and their families to mentally prepare for surgery, only to be told it cannot go ahead - and deeply disappointing for the staff caring for them.”

Alongside this, the new figures also revealed that on the last Thursday of June, four of the eight beds in the trust’s adult critical care unit were full – an occupancy rate of 50 per cent.

Dr Carl Waldmann, dean of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine, said: “Doctors working at the coalface are concerned that eventually, they may be unable to provide the quality of care that their patients deserve.

“Where no beds are available, this can lead to cancellations of operations or to patients being transferred at their sickest to hospitals away from their loved ones.”

He added: “No intensive care doctor is willing to compromise on patient safety – but without specific interventions to alleviate the pressure on the system, the strain on intensive care staff and their resources will continue to increase putting patients at risk.”

In a study published in March this year, the FICM reported that a majority of critical care units said they were struggling due to nursing staff shortages.

Their survey found that 60 per cent of intensive care units said they did not have a full complement of nurses and that 40 per cent of units said they had to close beds on at least a weekly basis due to lack of staff.

Beds that are closed due to lack of staff are not counted as available in NHS figures, leading some of the doctors surveyed to suggest that official figures underestimate the extent of the problem.

Dorset County Hospital was unavailable for comment on the figures.