Hip replacement as day case

The Trust has carried out its first hip replacement as a day case at the Chelsea site, following a similar successful operation at the West Middlesex site. This is one part of an improvement programme benefiting all hip patients.

Barbara Stanley (shown) went home less than 7 hours after surgery and is delighted with how smoothly it went.  The national average hip replacement keeps the patient in hospital for 3.7 days - Barbara was in hospital for a few days for the replacement on her previous hip many years ago.

Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon Mr Luthfur Rahman said:

‘Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) programs mean better outcomes for patients. Improvements in anaesthesia and surgical techniques and better work in multidisciplinary teams have improved patient preparedness and recovery, allowing us to offer day case hip replacement where suitable.’

‘We know that the longer patients stay in hospital after total hip or knee arthroplasty the higher the morbidity and mortality. This is even more important in the current COVID pandemic where the ability to perform hip replacements and discharge the patient to their home environment is invaluable. For the patient it improves outcomes and patient experience and for the trust it allows us to free up beds in times where there are pressures from all directions. We really want to be providing the best service available to our patients and strive for excellence - this is another step towards that.’

He added ‘Although day-case hip replacement is for our less frail patients, our programme is significantly improving care for all our hip patients, particularly the most frail.’