Over 1,000 NHS Operations Cancelled Due to UK's Record Heatwaves, Investigation Finds

More than 1,000 operations at NHS hospitals in England and Wales were cancelled due to extreme heat during the UK's record-breaking May and June heatwaves this year, according to an investigation by Carbon Brief. The cancellations included 167 orthopaedic surgeries such as knee and hip replacements, as well as heart, eye and skin-cancer operations, and at least 10 "emergency" surgeries for life-threatening conditions.

Carbon Brief sent freedom-of-information requests to the 140 NHS trusts and health boards in England and Wales that run hospitals with surgical theatres, asking about cancellations during the 17-day period covering the "amber" and "red" heat warnings of 22-28 May and 18-27 June. Of the 140, 59 responded with details of 1,110 heat-related cancellations; many of the remaining trusts said they simply do not record this data, meaning Carbon Brief's total is likely a significant underestimate.

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust reported the most cancellations -- 140 in total, all at the surgery unit at Crawley Hospital, which saw temperatures approaching 36C in June. Other hotspots included south Essex, Dudley in the West Midlands, south Wales and parts of London, largely reflecting where temperatures were highest. Of the trusts that provided full cancellation data for the period, around 7% of all surgeries cancelled were heat-related.

Nearly all the cancelled operations were "elective" -- scheduled in advance rather than immediately life-saving -- but the list also included at least eight heart operations, seven skin-cancer removals and 18 surgeries abandoned partway through. Dr. Ed Robinson, an NHS anaesthetist, said operating theatres rely on complex ventilation systems that stop working properly above certain temperatures, raising the risk of infection for patients and staff.

Dr. Dmitri Nepogodiev, a public health researcher at the University of Birmingham, said hospitals will always prioritise "time-sensitive, life-threatening" surgeries, but that every cancellation can cause significant distress and harm patients' quality of life. Richard Egan, a national clinical director within NHS Wales, said cancelling surgeries for several days during a heatwave has a real knock-on effect: "For every week that patients are waiting on a waiting list, their condition could get worse and deteriorate."