1785 operations cancelled in Dumfries and Galloway

A TOTAL of 1785 hospital operations were cancelled by NHS Dumfries and Galloway last year, it has been revealed.

This equates to nearly 150 planned surgeries per month – or close to five per day. They were due to be at:

Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary – 1457 cancellations;

Galloway Community Hospital, Stranraer – 228;

Mountainhall Treatment Centre, Dumfries – 100.

Of those, 1681 were called off on the same day surgery was due to take place.

A freedom of information request to NHS Dumfries and Galloway showed that no ward bed was available on 58 occasions.

Meanwhile, 11 scheduled operations were scrapped due to the ward being completely closed.

However, the most common reason was patients not showing up - in 512 cases last year, a rise of 60.

A spokesman for NHS Dumfries and Galloway said: “The majority of planned operations continue to go ahead as scheduled.

“It is also important to note that a significant proportion of cancellations are due to factors which cannot be mitigated.

“P-DNA refers to patients who did not attend for their scheduled procedure. In 2024/25 this accounted for 512 cancellations.

“Non-attendance can occur for a range of reasons, including acute illness on the day, personal circumstances, or patients choosing to defer treatment, often at short notice.

“Other cancellations may be linked to clinical safety considerations, such as a patient being unwell on admission or requiring further pre-operative assessment. In these cases, postponement is in the patient’s best interests.”

He added: “We recognise that cancellations due to no available beds or ward closures are particularly inconvenient for patients. These arise from hospital capacity pressures, emergency admissions, or safety-related ward closures.

“The health board continues to take steps to minimise cancellations and prioritise patient safety, while acknowledging and apologising for the disruption these unavoidable situations can cause.”

NHS Dumfries and Galloway provided a breakdown on where these cancelled operations were expected to go ahead: