Last-minute cancellations of operations at a Harrow hospital trust have risen by seven per cent, figures reveal.

In the last financial year, 477 operations were cancelled for non-clinical reasons, on the day the patient was due to have the procedure, at North West London Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages Northwick Park Hospital in Watford Road.

The number is up by 30 on the previous year, leading Harrow West MP Gareth Thomas to warn that the rise was a “worrying sign” as savings are made to reduce financial deficits in the health service.

He said: “After the weekday closure of the Alexandra Avenue Polyclinic many in Harrow will understandably want reassurance that the number of cancelled operations won't continue to rise as health service cuts begin to bite.”

The polyclinic drop-in service in South Harrow, which allowed anyone to receive treatment between 8am-8pm even if they were not registered with a GP, was restricted to 8am-4pm on weekends and bank holidays last year.

But the trust said that it had seen a 30 per cent increase in emergency admissions at Northwick Park’s accident and emergency department in the last three years, leaving it struggling to cope.

It said: “This increased demand for emergency care has meant that on some occasions, patients coming in for planned operations have had to be sent home at short notice.

“The trust does not take decisions like this lightly and is putting plans in place to avoid similar cancellations in future.”

Plans were put forward by NHS North West London last month to close the A&E department at Central Middlesex Hospital and downgrade it to a local hospital, putting further strain on Northwick Park’s facilities.

The proposals are due to go out for public consultation this month until October.

The trust is also planning to merge with Ealing Hospital NHS Trust early next year in a bid to balance the books and save on management costs to meet the minimum standards set by the independent regulator Monitor, which assesses trusts applying for Foundation status.

Foundation trusts have much more independence from Government and more control over their financial affairs, and the Department of Health has insisted all hospital trusts must achieve the status by 2014.