The number of operations cancelled last minute at north Cumbria's hospitals has surged.

Figures from NHS England show that 144 non-urgent operations, such as hip or knee procedures, were cancelled at the Carlisle and Whitehaven hospitals at the last minute in the three months to September.

This was an increase of 19 per cent from the same period in 2017, when the North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust cancelled 121.

The data covers cancellations for to non-clinical reasons, such as bed or staff shortages.

The trust, which runs the Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital, says the rise in last minute cancellations was due to high numbers of emergencies.

The Royal College of Surgeons has blamed pressure on the over-stretched NHS for the increasing number of cancellations in England.

It also warned the figures could be masking the true scale of the problem, as they do not include operations cancelled at more than 24 hours' notice.

A last-minute cancellation is defined as being either on the day that a patient was due to arrive, after the patient has arrived, or on the day of the operation itself.

Professor Cliff Shearman, vice president of the RCS, said: “Having an operation that has been planned for months cancelled at short notice can be very stressful for patients and their families.

"Alongside practical considerations such as wasted time off work and rescheduling the surgery, patients will have to deal with the mental anguish of preparing for surgery all over again.

“They will also have to endure waiting longer in pain and discomfort, possibly unable to work or complete day-to-day tasks for themselves. In some cases, their condition may worsen."

If a trust is unable to reschedule the operation within 28 days, it must instead fund the treatment in another hospital.

It also forfeits its payment from its local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, which fund healthcare in the area.

However, 14 per cent of patients at the North Cumbria trust were not treated within this 28 day timeframe between July and September.

This is an increase on the previous year, when three per cent of patients weren't treated within 28 days.

There were 18,460 last minute cancellations across England in the three months to September.

Of these, 8.3 per cent of patients did not have their operations rescheduled within 28 days.

This rate is higher than the same period a year ago, when it was 6.8 per cent.

Sarah Scobie, deputy director of research at the Nuffield Trust, said: "Sadly, this is not a surprise. Although these numbers are small, this is yet another sign of how difficult the NHS is currently finding it to provide as much planned care as people need.

"Last month, we saw waiting times reach their worst level in nearly a decade."

Addressing the figures, a spokesman for North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, told the News & Star: “During the three month period that has been highlighted to us, we carried out an additional 217 emergency procedures compared to the previous year meaning we did an additional 73 operations overall.

“However, we recognise that postponing an operation is very frustrating for patients and their families and we do everything we can to keep cancellations to a minimum.

“If we are faced with circumstances when we cannot undertake all of our operating lists, we ensure that clinically urgent patients are prioritised.

“We also endeavour to reschedule any postponed procedures as soon as possible.”