24-Hour NHS Operating Theatres

In a bid to cut waiting times for operations Blair wants to open the theatres in the evenings and weekends. This has been described by doctors as "madness". Operations are already being delayed until the start of the next financial year because of debts. A consultant surgeon (retired) has commented that Blair's suggestion "would be laughable if it were not so idiotically ill-informed and irresponsible. Operating theatres require support services such as pathology laboratories, imaging, portering and cleaning, not to mention professional staff groups, especially nurses who are currently subject to recruitment freezes up and down the country." Use the private sector and send patients abroad. But aftercare? Who cares? Cuts waiting lists though. In theory. "What happens if there are complications during surgery and the patient is critically ill?" so asks consultant orthopaedic surgeon, David Nunn. "It will be the poor old NHS that gets the blame." As an ill-thought out argument, emergency operations already happen at night so any schedule would easily and quickly get disrupted. Diagnosis is the problem. Just over a third of patients are treated within 18 weeks with the average waiting time nearer 30 weeks and long waits for diagnosis are often the cause.