Thousands of patients whose operations have been cancelled because of the growing turmoil in the UK’s A&E departments are facing prolonged anxiety, discomfort and pain while they wait for a new date for their surgery. A sharp rise in the number of procedures hospitals are postponing has prompted the leader of Britain’s surgeons to warn that patients affected will suffer ‘considerable distress’. Clare Marx, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: ‘The continued rise in the number of operations cancelled for non-clinical reasons remains of deep concern. Telling a patient that they cannot have the operation they have waited and planned for can cause considerable distress to the individual and their family. As surgeons we are doing our best to manage our patients’ conditions and to make sure they can have the surgery at a time when they need it.’