NHS: Joint Replacement Procedures

Lord Walton of Detchant Excerpts

Tuesday 5th April 2011 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Lord Walton of Detchant]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their forecast of the effect that proposed efficiency savings will have on the availability of joint replacement procedures in the National Health Service.

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, decisions about whether patients receive procedures, including joint replacements, need to be taken by patients and clinicians together, based on high-quality clinical evidence.

[Lord Walton of Detchant]

I thank the Minister for that reply. Is she aware that in 2010 1,200 fewer knee replacements and 350 fewer hip replacements were carried out in the National Health Service, that the Patients Association has said that there is evidence that waiting lists are increasing, and that the Medical Devices Agency says that companies that produce the prostheses for joint replacements are finding that demand is declining? Is it not likely that the so-called efficiency savings within the NHS will make this deteriorating situation even worse?

[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.