THE number of operations cancelled at Basildon Hospital has risen by 3,000 in three years.

A Freedom of Information request to the hospital has revealed that in 2014, 1,535 operations were cancelled for non-clinical reasons.

However, in 2016 - the latest year for which figures are available - this figure had risen to 1,875.

In January 2014, just 29 operations were cancelled, but this jumped to 144 in the same month in 2016. A Basildon Hospital spokesman said that the figures do not necessarily mean the procedure didn’t take place, and in some instances mean the operation took place earlier than scheduled.

He added that the most significant factor that caused an increase was a rise in the number of more urgent cases.

This is still counted as a cancellation for administrative purposes.

A total of 1,117 procedures were also cancelled for non-clinical reasons at the last minute - on the scheduled day of the operation - between January 2014 and December 2016.

Of these, 28 had not been carried out within 28 days. However, since December 2014, no urgent operations have been cancelled for non-clinical reasons.