Posted , 17 users are following.
Hi hope you are all well, I saw this morning that the amount of hip replacements is being cut due to what has been deemed as unnescassary ops, it said that too many people are having it done when its not absolutely nescassary.
Any comment's.
2 likes, 32 replies
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Msky AlexandriaGizmo
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steve86482 AlexandriaGizmo
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Chloeparrot steve86482
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UK - but it was only reported to be a certain Health Authority. The report didn't make it clear whether this meant this HA was the only one admitting to doing this though!
Msky Chloeparrot
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jo_ann_49302 AlexandriaGizmo
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Good morning! My first question would be who can decide how painful or necessary hip replacement is but the person needing relief? No one knows how you feel but you! I am 11 days out from THR and 100% improved from the pain I endured for months. If someone would have told me I didn't need surgery, I would have told them they were out of their mind. Just my honest opinion.😀
Sarah_Haggart AlexandriaGizmo
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rose0000 AlexandriaGizmo
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Listening to the report the stipulation is not being able to sleep with the pain, and a few other requirements, that most of us suffer anyway post op.
No one in their right mind would ever elect to have this operation without being in severe pain or their mobility severely impacted and usually both in combination, and usually to a life limiting degree. I can't imagine there are going to be many patients that are missing one or both of these elements, so my guess is that they are not going to limit the operations to patients in genuine need.
That said, I am very concerned that it is a slippery slope - and the fact the consultants are 'judging' patients at all (should the xrays etc not speak for themselves?) is very worrying. We must not leave people to suffer when there is a perfect solution to their pain and misery. It is completely wrong. The NHS need to be careful about the precdent they are now setting....
My life would not be worth living without this operation and I could not possibly support any limit to the patients needing one. Of all the things the NHS could cut back on, why this??
beth2509 rose0000
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Because we are "old" and shouldn't mind that we are wearing out because we aren't really all that productive any more? Because we are easy prey because we don't fight back?
?And it isn't consultants. It's managers. Consultants don't run the NHS. Probably rightly so, since they don't have any reason to know how to manage a major public service. Unfortunately, it would appear that many of the managers don't either.
Msky rose0000
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It was so hard as a person who had to work full time to do so at the level of pain I was experiencing . It was for the 1 st time really getting depressed despite my true best efforts to handle the pain in a positive holistic way.Our jobs at the same time demand maximum efficiency and it's really tough . These companies should not get to make that decision. It's not like getting a nose job,or breast augmentation for vanity . This is life altering .
rose0000 beth2509
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It is shocking but probably true - of course this not what the general public support - age should never be a reason to limit medical treatment.
Having said that I am forty, are they are also going to limit hip replacements in younger patients too? I am sure they will also be forced to go through the same process.
It will be the consultant's decision at the end of the day. A manager won't make that call, but will expect the consultant to get the numbers down therefore forcing consultants to decide which patient is on more need....I am seriously unhappy about this, and so are many other agencies and doctors speaking publicly. Lets hope it is just a headline and nothing more.
rose0000 Msky
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rose0000 AlexandriaGizmo
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Michiana_Mom AlexandriaGizmo
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I'm totally with you all--this is a highly invasive surgery with a complete recovery time of close to a year (yes, you can be quite good a lot sooner, but I'm talking about everything totally grown together and healed).
No one on their right mind would choose to undergo all of this if there was another suitable option available. I tried physical therapy (I became more fit, but my hips worsened anyway!), consumed all kinds of natural therapies (turmeric pills, real turmeric root) which probably made me healthier overall but did nothing for my hips (that I was able to feel).
Surgery is what you undergo when you're desperate. I think.
beth2509 AlexandriaGizmo
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The problem is that, for some obscure (and to me obscene) reason, hip replacement is considered to be elective surgery - that is, you choose to have it. That is a ridiculous assessment. You can break a limb bungee jumping or jumping out of a plane - both of which activities are definitely "elective" - and nobody says that you can't have treatment! A hip replacement - or any other joint replacement - is not cosmetic surgery.
?What is needed is a re-categorisation of these surgeries from elective to critical (or whatever they call things that must be done). And as others have observed, there's a lot of us around now. "Grey power" is a serious vote risk - but it needs people to be prepared to organise politically to force the governments hand. We will never achieve change by knocking on the doors of individual health authorities - the managers who balance the budgets (and it is the managers, not the surgeons, who dream up these rules) don't listen. So it has to be something that politicans think will risk or win them votes. Are we organised enough? No! And that is why nothing will change until we are.
judith12644 beth2509
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Maybe classed as elective because it's not life threatening in the same way as heart disease or cancer for instance?
Are you watching the St Mary's hospital programme on Wednesdays? I find it very depressing.
Guest judith12644
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I was told by a nurse that any sugery was "elective" if you could sign the papers yourself.
beth2509 judith12644
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Breaking your leg isn't life threatening either, so maybe we should stop treating that. Whereas, actually, a hip may be life threatening I had necrosis, and the risk of infection that could kill was very high. As a result my hip was packed with antibiotics when replaced.
If the NHS stopped treating anything that wasn't life threatening then that would include the majority of their provision. Until, of course, the conditions deteriorated to the point of being life threatening, which many do eventually. It would certainly cut the unemployment rates...
?The problem with CCG managers is that they don't suffer any of the conditions that they are merrily axing. If they did, you'd see a different perspective. It like the whole BMI thing... if they experienced so much pain that they could barely walk, I wonder if they'd be jogging just to keep the weight off?
beth2509 Guest
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