Patients waiting for hip operations suffering 'pain worse than death'

Patients waiting for hip replacements are suffering pain "worse than death", a study by Edinburgh University suggests. The research recorded the health states of more than 2,000 people on waiting lists and found 19% were in extreme pain or discomfort.

The level is so poor it is defined by experts as "worse than death" - more painful than chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart failure or lung diseases. Scientists who used the internationally approved EQ-5D measurement said the findings disprove perceptions that hip and knee arthritis only causes mild discomfort. Earlier this year research found that four in 10 clinical commissioning groups in England are rationing hip and knee operations.

The Royal College of Surgeons has described the restrictions are “alarming” and “arbitrary”.

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Source: The Telegraph, 15 August 2019