Cancellations to surgeries cannot be ruled out as the NHS enters an extremely challenging winter, says a Greater Manchester health chief. The warning comes as patients are urged to choose the right place for their illness or injury because A&E waiting rooms and hospital beds are under crippling demand.
Greater Manchester health leaders have said keeping operations on track, particular cancer surgeries, is vital despite winter pressures on the NHS. However, demand on the system is so high that pausing elective surgeries is ‘always a risk’ over the coming months, according to Dr Manisha Kumar, Greater Manchester’s chief medical officer and GP.
Planned surgeries, which include cancer appointments, joint replacements and other scheduled operations, were paused during the most pressured points during the pandemic to make room for Covid-19 patients in hospitals. Any major surgery needs an open bed in intensive care to go ahead, but the pausing of surgeries throughout that period has created a huge backlog, which doctors across the country are now trying to plough through.
