Now 1 in 3 NHS knee ops are done privately

ALMOST one in three knee replacements and one in five hip replacements on the NHS are now carried out in private hospitals, official figures reveal.

Long waiting lists are forcing hospitals to outsource tens of thousands of the routine operations every year.

The Royal College of Surgeons warned the growing number of operations being carried out outside of NHS hospitals means young surgeons are not getting the experience they need. Figures show 28,700 NHS-funded knee replacements – or 29.4 per cent – were carried out by private hospitals in 2016/17, up from 20.1 per cent in 2012/13.

Over the same period 22,872 hip replacements – or 19.7 per cent – were carried by the private sector in 2016/17, from 13.7 per cent in 2012/13.

Professor Derek Alderson, president of the RCS, said private hospitals provided ‘much-needed extra capacity’ but warned that the trend still risks drawing resources away from the NHS.

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, said the data provided further evidence that cuts to bed numbers are ‘undermining the fabric of our NHS’.