Patients are dying needlessly following major surgery at York District Hospital (YDH) for lack of specialist beds, it was claimed today.

Consultant anaesthetist Dr Jonathan Wilson said a shortage of high dependency and intensive care beds meant that patients were sometimes put on ordinary wards, where nurses were too busy to give them all the necessary post-surgical attention.

He said: "It is pretty certain that patients are dying unnecessarily through lack of facilities."

The Evening Press revealed on Saturday that groundbreaking techniques developed by Dr Wilson and colleagues could cut deaths following major surgery by up to 80 per cent - but were not being implemented for lack of special beds.

Dr Wilson said today there was a balance between admitting patients for urgent major surgery and delaying because there were not enough special beds to take them.

One operation had already been cancelled this week and it was possible others may follow.

But he warned: "You cannot go on cancelling patients who need surgery for cancer."

Dr Wilson said there had been a number of studies into the need for more high dependency and intensive care beds at the hospital - but 'none of them have been taken any notice of.'

Morag Cuthbertson, of North Yorkshire Health Authority, said there was no evidence the county lacked high dependency or intensive care beds.

If all beds at one hospital were full, patients could be directed to another, she said.

"The overall capacity appears to be largely meeting the demand in the county as a whole. You can't look at York as a single unit, but as part of a whole network."

Audits were being undertaken both regionally and at hospital level into the need for high dependency beds.

She said: "We would hope that if there is something serious like this going on, then we can pick it up through these audits."

YDH chief executive Peter Kennedy said the audits would help the hospital make best use of its beds and show if more were needed.

But he added: "No ICU unit can expect to be self-sufficient. We have to acknowledge that transfers will take place to neighbouring hospitals."

Ms Cuthbertson added the health authority was 'very enthused' about the research carried out by Dr Wilson and fellow YDH consultant Dr Ian Woods into cutting deaths from surgery.

The team's results, published in the British Medical Journal last week, claimed deaths following operations could be cut by 80 per cent if the correct steps were taken before surgery.

She said: "Their research shows such a tremendous outcome that it is going to be taken very seriously. We have the audit going on now. This will feed into it."

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