Kent’s hospitals cancelled hundreds of operations in the space of just three months this year, it was revealed today.

Between April and June, 280 procedures were called off at the last minute for non clinical reasons.

Either on the day the treatment was meant to take place, or after the patient had arrived at hospital.

That means, on average, one operation was cancelled for every 133 that went ahead.

East Kent alone saw 123 treatments put back - by far the largest number - but the University NHS Foundation Trust also carried out more operations than any other trust in the county.

Their cancellation rate was actually the lowest – at only one in 148 procedures.

By contrast, the Medway NHS Foundation Trust had the highest percentage of cancellations, at one in 106.

A Medway NHS Trust spokesman said operations are cancelled for a number of reasons.

She said: "The patient may decide they don't want surgery, or due to increased emergency admissions there may not be a bed available.

"On rarer occasions, operations may be cancelled due to lack of staff or specialist equipment being available.

"Medway NHS Foundation Trust has been working hard to reduce the number of missed appointments and cancellations across the hospital by, for example, trying to understand why patients might not attend and to introduce a text message reminder service.

"If the decision to cancel is in the Trust's hands, careful consideration will always be taken before cancelling a procedure."

Over the same period, 60 operations were cancelled by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS trust – a rate of one in every 123 – and 32 were cancelled by the Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust – a rate of 1 in 147.