Hip replacement surgery withheld against NHS guidelines

According to a study by the University of Liverpool, hip replacement surgery is being denied to thousands of patients, despite advice from health watchdogs warning hospitals against such behavior.

The research found that less than one third of patients who met the criteria set by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) were given the go ahead to receive a total hip replacement, between 2011-15.

During this time 114,1119 people suffered hip fractures, while 77,601 did not receive the recommended surgery. Such patients were denied surgery on the basis of age, weight and mobility.

NICE guidelines direct that all patients that meet the criteria should receive surgery unless they have cognitive impairments, can go under anaesthetic, or are unable to walk without an aid.

The research outlined that people were ten per cent less likely to undergo surgery at weekends, potentially due to a lack of specialist surgeons.

Dr Daniel Perry, a clinical scientist from Liverpool University said: “A total hip replacement is a specialist procedure, requiring more specialist surgeons. In order to deliver more specialist services at weekends, we need to think about the way that health care is delivered.

“Having a specialist hip surgeon on-call in every hospital is not achievable. In other specialist services in England, such as major trauma, we have centralised care to a handful of specialist centres across England. We need analyses to be done of such specialist centralised systems to determine if they overcome the "weekend effect”.

The report, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), said: “Further efforts are necessary to improve the use of (total hip replacement) for eligible patients and reduce unexplained variation in care for older adults with hip fractures.”