[Margaret Pilkington]

It has always been the case(or that is the way it seems from my experience and recollection) that if you have what is suspected to be a cancerous growth then you were admitted and treated pronto.....I know of many women who came to a clinic and were admitted directly from there......not sent home to even get nightwear.
I worked for excellent consultants who had their patients interests at heart...they were not just ticking boxes set by the government.
Those cases that were done at the weekend were what were called waiting list iniatives....they were cold case surgical procedures...things that had no urgency(from the medical standpoint anyway) attached to them and a lot of what was done was for political window dressing and point scoring.......and that is never in the interest of the patient.