Access to Surgery

Restrictions on access to surgery have been in the news again with this Observer article on smokers and obese patients waiting longer for surgery such as hip and knee replacements. In April, the Kings Fund published a report on understanding NHS Financial pressures and what this means for patients. Whereas genito-urinary medicine and district nursing services have seen an impact on access to, and quality of, their services, neonatal and elective hip replacement services were not affected to the same extent by the same pressures. However, for elective hip replacement services, despite having much to celebrate it appears the impact of financial pressures is beginning to show. You can read the details in this blog post.