MORE Oxfordshire hospital patients have had operations cancelled at the last minute, according to new figures.

But the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust said the harsh winter had hit its performance.

Figures released by the Department of Health show 252 patients booked in for surgery at the John Radcliffe and Churchill hospitals, in Oxford, and The Horton, in Banbury, were affected by cancellations between December last year and March this year.

In the previous four months, there were 189 cancelled operations and 190 between December 2008 and March last year.

The figure for Oxfordshire cancellations was also higher than for hospitals in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, which make up the rest of the NHS South Central region.

An ORH Trust spokesman said: “The heavy snowfall in January had a significant impact on our figures for the last quarter of the financial year.

“We know that the cancellation of an operation is very disruptive for patients and their families.

“The trust tries very hard not to make last-minute cancellations and to rearrange operations as soon as possible whenever there is a cancellation.”

The trust measures operation cancellations in percentages.

In the last quarter the cancellations represented 1.23 per cent of all scheduled operations. The spokesman added: “We have had a difficult year.

“The number of patients coming to the ORH has been above planned levels.”

The spokesman added: “When you have to prioritise emergency patients, it does unfortunately impact on routine cases and leads to cancellations.

“Addressing these issues is a constant priority.”