114 Turing’s Test
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust cancelled seven urgent and potentially life-saving operations in October, the latest health data have
revealed.
It was one of only 40 hospital trusts in England to cancel at least one important procedure in October, according to statistics from the NHS.
More than two-thirds of the country’s trusts did not rearrange a
single urgent operation over the same time period.
Such operations can include swift action needed to save patients’ lives,
limbs, and organs.
In the last 12 months, the trust, which runs Croydon University Hospital, has stopped 69 key surgeries.
And one patient has had an operation cancelled twice in the space of just
four weeks, over the past year. Cancellations can be due to shortages
of beds or staff as well as surgeries running over time, or administrative errors.
The trust cancelled less surgeries this year than in the same month in
2016, when 13 were stopped.
The figures may spark concern given the winter months are fast approaching, when more pressure is expected to be placed on NHS
services.
Between last December, January, and February 14, urgent operations
were cancelled.
The chief executive of NHS England Simon Stevens recently warned ministers that waiting times would continue to rise unless more money
was put into the health service, after the chancellor Philip Hammond promised £350 million in the Budget to help this winter.
60
The story is quoted in full to show how, in many respects, it looks extremely similar to many other types of article carried by hundreds of
publications around the country each day. The absence of direct quotation is probably the only telling feature that this story is mostly automatically generated, drawing attention to the fact that this is one area
where such journalism will struggle for some time to come. Compare
this copy to the following extract published only a few days earlier in
the Shropshire Star:
Shropshire’s hospitals “full”: Appointments cancelled
under growing pressure
Shropshire’s two main hospitals have been forced to cancel elective day
cases and are using extra capacity to cope with high demand, health
bosses have revealed.
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs Royal
Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital, said it
had been very busy this week but bosses were taking steps to ensure
patients received the best possible care.
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust cancelled seven urgent and potentially life-saving operations in October, the latest health data have
revealed.
It was one of only 40 hospital trusts in England to cancel at least one important procedure in October, according to statistics from the NHS.
More than two-thirds of the country’s trusts did not rearrange a
single urgent operation over the same time period.
Such operations can include swift action needed to save patients’ lives,
limbs, and organs.
In the last 12 months, the trust, which runs Croydon University Hospital, has stopped 69 key surgeries.
And one patient has had an operation cancelled twice in the space of just
four weeks, over the past year. Cancellations can be due to shortages
of beds or staff as well as surgeries running over time, or administrative errors.
The trust cancelled less surgeries this year than in the same month in
2016, when 13 were stopped.
The figures may spark concern given the winter months are fast approaching, when more pressure is expected to be placed on NHS
services.
Between last December, January, and February 14, urgent operations
were cancelled.
The chief executive of NHS England Simon Stevens recently warned ministers that waiting times would continue to rise unless more money
was put into the health service, after the chancellor Philip Hammond promised £350 million in the Budget to help this winter.
60
The story is quoted in full to show how, in many respects, it looks extremely similar to many other types of article carried by hundreds of
publications around the country each day. The absence of direct quotation is probably the only telling feature that this story is mostly automatically generated, drawing attention to the fact that this is one area
where such journalism will struggle for some time to come. Compare
this copy to the following extract published only a few days earlier in
the Shropshire Star:
Shropshire’s hospitals “full”: Appointments cancelled
under growing pressure
Shropshire’s two main hospitals have been forced to cancel elective day
cases and are using extra capacity to cope with high demand, health
bosses have revealed.
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs Royal
Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital, said it
had been very busy this week but bosses were taking steps to ensure
patients received the best possible care.