NGH confirms non-urgent operations have been cancelled to support A&E
The news comes as Northampton General Hospital yesterday (Tuesday) was seeking advice from its commissioners about how to deal with soaring demand for NHS services.
A spokeswoman for Northampton General Hospital said: “As we move into our busiest period we are working to manage the demand that we will have for our services this winter. We are working to prepare for these pressures in a more structured way to help us to avoid cancelling surgery at short notice.
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Hide Ad"We know previously that this has caused a lot of frustration for patients, some of whom have been cancelled multiple times, which we believe is an unacceptable way to treat our patients.
“We have therefore reluctantly taken the decision, with input from our divisional management team and clinical leaders, to cease some routine non-urgent surgery that requires an inpatient bed at Northampton General Hospital."
This will be for the period of four months over the winter, effective immediately in November until the end of March, to allow the hospital to support the care of urgent patients arriving in A&E department.
She added: "We will continue to provide emergency surgery for patients with urgent surgical need, patients with cancer and we will be doing as many day case procedures as we are able to during this period.
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Hide Ad“Anyone affected will receive information about what will happen with their treatment and whether we can provide surgery for them elsewhere.
“We are very sorry to anyone who will be affected by these cancellations and for any upset this will cause.
"We would like to thank everyone for their ongoing cooperation and support for the hospital and hope they can understand the need to make these tough decisions to keep our patients safe.”