Health warnings

Few things are more stressful than preparing for a hospital consultation; so to have an appointment cancelled at the last minute is bound to compound the anxiety. Yet the incidence of patients being informed shortly before a longarranged meeting that they would have to reschedule has been growing inexorably.

As we report today, the number of cancelled appointments has tripled in a decade, with more than nine million outpatients let down. In some trusts, one quarter are cancelled. This applies to serious procedures as well as consultations. The most recent statistics show that one in seven imminent operations is being called off, often without any explanation being given.

This causes pain and distress, with the elderly in particular worst affected. Why is this happening in a modern health service which is seeing record sums invested, despite complaints that the extra money is never enough? Finding out precisely what is going on is not easy because of the extraordinary secrecy inside the NHS and its imperviousness to criticism.

The bald statistics tell us nothing about what sort of arrangements are being made within hospitals to ensure the systems work properly. How much is down to so-called “targetitis” where in order to meet goals in one area, for instance A&E waiting limits, the well-being of outpatients in other parts of the system is relegated down the list of priorities?

Since anyone in the NHS who is unwise enough to point out its shortcomings is pushed out or gagged, it is hardly surprising poor practice has taken root. Among his many tasks, Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, needs to end this scandal.