The topnotchers among NHS hospitals which frequently canceled operations were Kingston Hospital, York Hospitals and Sussex University Hospitals. However, the Clatterbridge Center for Oncology never canceled a surgery at all.
Over 7,000 patients had experienced having their operations canceled more than once, while a third of NHS trusts struck out a surgical procedure on the same patient at least thrice.
The Department of Health claimed last year that it canceled only 57,000 operations, but it turned out the data were only for surgeries set aside 24 hours prior to the procedure.
Commenting on the high figures, Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said, quoted by the U.K. Telegraph, "Having an operation canceled can cause huge distress for patients and their families. It's simply unacceptable that these figures are so high."
Even some dental procedures are becoming more difficult to obtain due to the lack of dentists in Britain, according to an NHS report released Thursday. As a result crown fitting declined to 35 percent from 48 percent and fillings dipped to 26 percent from 28 percent from 2003-04 to 2007-08.
However, fitting dentures jumped by 10 percent to 48 percent and extractions increased to 8 percent from 7 percent for the same period.
Overall, 1.1 million less Britons visited their dentists the past two years.
Susie Sanderson, chair of the executive board of the British Dental Association, attributed the decline in dental services to the introduction of new NHS dental contract in April 2006.
Dr. Barry Cockcroft, chief dental officer for England, denied Sanderson's claim that it is getting more difficult to secure a dental appointment. He pointed out the NHS has 655 additional dentists in 2007-08, up by 3.2 percent from the previous year.
