University Hospital Aintree (320)

The Royal said a major improvement programme for theatres was carried out earlier this year had also dramatically shortened the waiting time for operations.

Trust Chief Executive Tony Bell said: “We are not complacent about the number of operations which had to be cancelled for non clinical reasons in the past year; but we are confident that the improvements that have taken place will lead to a further reduction of cancellations in the coming year.”

Across Merseyside and Cheshire similar reasons were offered for cancelled operations.

Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust cancelled 247 operations, The Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust cancelled 321, Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust cancelled 138 and Walton Centre For Neurology and Neurosurgery NHS Trust cancelled 115.

No figures were provided for the Countess Of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, but Royal Liverpool Childrens NHS Trust said it cancelled 100 operations.

Esther McVey, prospective Conservative MP for Wirral West, said: “I have every faith that the staff at the hospital are doing their best but the ‘boom and bust’ in the NHS finances has caused too many operations to be cancelled due to bed or staffing shortages.”