Thousands of patients are dying because the NHS cuts corners on operations for the critically ill, the Royal College of Surgeons has warned.
Life-or-death surgery is not taken as seriously as routine operations in a system with illogical targets. Patients with conditions such as a burst appendix, gallstones or abdominal problems are suffering the most unpredictable care.
In some hospitals, one in five patients dies within a month of such surgery yet elsewhere only one in twenty dies, with no clear reason for the difference, a report seen by The Times concludes. For some procedures, ten times as many patients.
The full story at The Times 11 April 2016