Two NI Hospitals Score Poorly For Hip Replacement Surgery

Two hospitals in Northern Ireland have scored very poorly in a nationwide survey for hip replacement surgery.

The survey, carried out for the Royal College of Surgeons, showed the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) in Belfast treated 63% of hip surgery patients within 48 hours compared to the national average of 81%.

The Altnagelvin hospital in Londonderry showed 69% of patients were seen within the first two days and came 107th out of 129 UK hospitals surveyed. The RVH came 98th.

Rob Wakeman, NHFD's Lead Clinician in Orthopaedic Surgery and a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon in Basildon, said: "Hip fractures are threatening to overwhelm trauma and orthopaedic units, and it is the responsibility of clinicians and managers to work together to come up with solutions to improve patient care in their hospital. We are seeing lots of evidence from around the UK that big improvements in the quality of hip fracture care can be achieved in a short space of time. It is vital that those few units that are still under-performing use this guidance and the examples of best practice to improve services in line with the rest of the UK."

Hip fracture is the most common serious injury of older people. Around 76,000 hip fractures occur in the UK each year, and cost the NHS £1.4 Bn. Numbers may double by 2050. For many patients, a hip fracture brings loss of mobility or of independence at home, and mortality is high.

(CD/GK)