Post-operative checks in a move closer to home

FOLLOW-UP checks for people having hip and knee replacements are now taking place closer to home for patients in Hinckley and Bosworth.

A new initiative means people requiring a review a year or more after surgery are able to visit Hinckley District Hospital in Mount Road for an X-ray, rather than travel to hospital in Leicester.

Post-surgery, patients still receive an exam at their GP practice six weeks on.

But now for subsequent checks at one, five and 10 years they can stay local.

Results of the X-ray and a questionnaire completed by the patient are sent to a specialist consultant in the new Leicester arthroplasty remote clinic (LARC) to study.

This move will save almost 97 per cent of patients the inconvenience of travelling to hospital for a consultation.

Doctors said the change would save patients unnecessary trips to hospital which could involve miles of travel.

In the last year more than 500 patients were reviewed by LARC at 12 months post-surgery.

Of those only 3.9 per cent needed to go back to hospital because of complications arising from their surgery.

Previously patients would have the six-week follow-up with a review arranged in hospital within the first 12 months.

Most patients would be dis- charged at this point with no further action taken.

But if a patient did then develop problems later on they had to go back to the GP and the referral process would start again, meaning lengthy waits and multiple appointments and journeys to hospitals.

Health procurers at West Leicestershire Clinical Commissioning Group have praised the initiative.

Professor Joseph Dias, consultant orthopaedic surgeon within the LARC service, speaking on behalf of Leicester’s Hospitals and the three county clinical commissioning groups, said: “Patients no longer have to make an unnecessary trip to hospital, which might be miles away from their home.

“All of their follow-up care is provided in the community, where appropriate.

“Patients are now reviewed at more appropriate stages of recovery and have access to a patient support telephone line if they have any concerns.”

The questionnaire, developed by patients and specialist consultants, is based on how well people are able to carry out normal day to day activity after surgery and asks them to report any discomfort, swelling, problems with movement or infection.

If issues are uncovered, depending on severity, the patient may be reviewed again in a year’s time or invited to attend a hospital clinic for further assessment.