Background: Cancellation of planned surgery impacts substantially on patients and health systems. Methods: We conducted a prospective observational cohort study over 7 consecutive days in March in NHS hospitals. Occurrences and reasons for previous surgical cancellations were recorded. Using multilevel logistic regression, we identified patient- and hospital-level factors associated with cancellation due to inadequate bed capacity.
Results: We analysed data from 14 patients undergoing planned surgery. A total of patients Non-clinical reasons, predominantly inadequate bed capacity, accounted for a large proportion of previous cancellations. Conclusions: A significant proportion of patients presenting for surgery have experienced a previous cancellation for the same procedure.
Cancer surgery is relatively protected, but bed capacity, including postoperative critical care requirements, are significant risk factors for previous cancellations. Keywords: Health Services Research; medical resource utilisation; operating room management; surgery.
Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Abstract Background: Cancellation of planned surgery impacts substantially on patients and health systems. Publication types Observational Study.
