NHS: Joint Replacement Procedures

Lord Winston Excerpts

Tuesday 5th April 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

I thank the noble Lord for his Question and pay tribute to his long battle for patients in the NHS. I assure him that, if it is clinically appropriate for a patient to receive a joint replacement, they should do so. As noble Lords will no doubt know from their own experience and that of their relatives, people often find that their recovery is not as uneventful as they might have wished, and for some patients the joint replacement does not work as well as it might. There are other procedures. For some patients, the best road to go down may be that of other options, which may be a factor here. However, I assure the noble Lord that, if it is clinically advised that people should have a joint replacement, that is what is supposed to happen and, if there is any evidence that that is not being carried forward, we would certainly like to know.

[Lord Winston]

My Lords, joint replacement treatment of all sorts is a highly successful area of medicine but there are still failures and many joints give up. Improvements have been possible only with continued research. Can the noble Baroness tell the House how it is envisaged that such research will continue under the improved National Health Service that the Government are proposing when more and more private providers will be offering these services and there is no particular academic interest in this aspect of medicine?

[Baroness Northover]

I note what the noble Lord has to say. Of course, he will know that my right honourable friend in the other place, Vince Cable, has recently put a considerable amount of money into health research. Looking forward over the next few years, real-terms spending on health research will increase. The National Institute for Health Research will be co-ordinating this and it supports research in this area. As for the noble Lord’s question about new arrangements in the health service, it is of key importance that research is carried on within the NHS. The NHS has led in clinical research and we are very committed to ensuring that under the new arrangements that continues to be the case.