Choosing A Hospital

The majority of hip replacement patients will not put much effort into choosing a hospital for their surgery. They’ll simply go along to the one closest to home.

But this doesn’t have to be the case. You can now play a much more active role in choosing a hospital to be treated in and your choice should be based around your values and priorities. In all probability these will include: -

• Length of time on waiting list – how long are you prepared to wait for your operation?
• Distance – would you be willing to travel a long way to be treated in a particular hospital? Bear in mind that this will involve a number of pre- and post-op appointments and travel time for your visitors
• MRSA infection rate – a concern for all patients but is it your priority?
• Wound infection rate – hip replacement infections are serious and may involve revision surgery
• Re-admission rate – often seen as a rough indicator of things not having gone well

What is Available?
Once you have decided on your priorities you can start to look at the options – they are: -

• NHS Treatment: - Since April 2009 all NHS patients have been able to chose the hospital in which they will receive treatment. It could be anywhere in the country and the choice may include some independent hospitals.
• Private Hospitals in the UK: - With health insurance, or a long bank roll, you may prefer to go private. A shorter waiting list, better food but not necessarily better treatment. Finding information to make a valid comparison of private hospitals is a bit more difficult and may be limited by your choice of health insurer.
• Treatment Abroad: -
  The final choice is to go abroad where prices are substantially cheaper. India offers some top class surgeons at very reasonable rates but there are other good alternatives within Europe.