Again "necessary" is a little subjective. Someone could elect not to have a hearth cath and die so it really isn't necessary except to the extent the person does not want to die. Not attacking you, it is just odd sometimes to see something like a major life-saving surgery to be categorized as an elective procedure as if it were the same as a nose job, but it happens.
As for the budget, maybe. This is one facility though so hopefully people could go elsewhere. Maybe that is what they are hoping for--they can shift the costs onto other facilities. Not sure. It isn't well explained in the article.
Don't be silly. A heart catheter certainly necessary. Odd remarks like that make your post sound childish.
Doesn't change that it is an elective procedure unless it is done while you are coming through the ED crashing. My grandfather had to have his chest/belly cut open and his aortic artery wrapped in gortex to keep it from exploding and it was categorized as an elective procedure. It struck me as odd when I read that seeing how he was going to rupture and die without it.
That does sound unusual, but either way, that is not the type of delay described in the OP
My understanding is that if it is something that is scheduled in advance, it is "elective" so if that is the same in the UK then it goes back to the point that it just depends on what they mean by elective as to how good or bad this policy could be. Putting off a knee replacement a few months might be no big thing (and probably better to reduce the risk of infection-rejection during cold/flu season) but putting off a gall bladder removal when the person is just miserably ill may not be.
Scheduled in advance doesn't make it elective.
Yes it does, but whatever. Believe whatever you want to believe.