News roundup

Rationing of joint replacements raises fears of further cuts

London Rebecca Coombes

A decision by NHS trusts in Suffolk to deny replacement joints to obese patients has led to concerns that other financially stretched NHS trusts could take similar steps to ration treatment.

As part of a series of new "thresholds" to treatment, three primary care trusts in east Suffolk—Ipswich, Suffolk Coastal, and Central Suffolk—have announced that patients will no longer be considered for hip or knee joint replacements if they have a body mass index (BMI) >30.

The list of thresholds was drawn up by a group of consultants who carry out the procedures at Ipswich Hospital and local GPs, led by Brian Keeble, director of public health for Ipswich Primary Care Trust.

Dr Keeble said that serious financial pressures were behind the decision: "We cannot pretend that this work wasn’t stimulated by the pressing financial problems of the NHS in east Suffolk."

The NHS in east Suffolk . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Rationing in response to NHS deficits: rural patients are likely to be affected most

Sheena Asthana and Alex Gibson
BMJ 2005 331: 1472. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Rationing joint replacements: Trust's decision seems to be based on prejudice or attributing blame...

Nicholas Finer
BMJ 2005 331: 1472. [Extract] [Full Text]

Rationing joint replacements: ...and is false economy resulting in overall damage

Martin W McNicol
BMJ 2005 331: 1473. [Extract] [Full Text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Rationing joint replacements

John G Mackinnon
bmj.com, 2 Dec 2005 [Full text]

Rationing in response to NHS deficits: rural patients may suffer disproportionately from service cuts

Sheena Asthana, et al.
bmj.com, 6 Dec 2005 [Full text]

Re: Rationing joint replacements

Michael F Vagg
bmj.com, 6 Dec 2005 [Full text]

False economy + overall damage

Martin W McNicol
bmj.com, 6 Dec 2005 [Full text]

Obesity and joint replacement surgery

Nicholas Finer
bmj.com, 6 Dec 2005 [Full text]

Joint Replacement in the overweight patient, a logical response or new form of rationing?

Warren Davis, et al.
bmj.com, 5 Feb 2006 [Full text]