Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average cost to the NHS was of a (a) hip replacement, (b) knee replacement, (c) cataract operation and (d) hernia operation in England in 2014.

The information is shown in the following table and is from reference costs, which are the average unit cost to National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts of providing defined services in a given financial year. Reference costs for acute care are collected by healthcare resource group (HRG), which are standard groupings of clinically similar treatments that consume similar levels of healthcare resource. The costs cover one episode of care under one consultant and do not include other elements of the patient pathway such as outpatient appointments.

Estimated average unit cost to NHS providers in 2013-14

Source: Reference costs, Department of Health

Notes:

1. Includes the average unit costs for the following HRGs, weighted for the activity reported for each HRG:

HA12, Major Hip Procedures for Trauma

HB12, Major Hip Procedures for Non-Trauma

HA21, Major Knee Procedures for Trauma

HB21, Major Knee Procedures for Non-Trauma

BZ01, Enhanced Cataract Surgery

BZ02, Phacoemulsification Cataract Extraction and Lens Implant

BZ03, Non-Phacoemulsification Cataract Surgery

FZ17, Abdominal Hernia Procedures

FZ18, Inguinal, Umbilical or Femoral Hernia Procedures

2. The majority of procedures in HA12, HB12, HA21 and HB21 are for total replacements of hip or knee joints but may include other hip or knee procedures.