Brickbat: Cutting Edge
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A study by the Royal College of Surgeons of England found that almost half of National Health Service surgeons perform just one planned inpatient operation per week or fewer. Almost three-quarters of surgeons said a lack of space is an issue, with more than half citing shortages of operating staff and almost half citing a lack of hospital beds. These constraints make it hard to schedule surgeries even when surgeons are ready. This bottleneck is delaying treatments for patients waiting for procedures like hip replacements and hernia repairs. It is also impairing the training of new surgeons.