Trial enables joint replacement patients to recover athome

16 October 2002

The average hospital stay for a joint replacement patientcan be anything from six to 14 days following surgery. However thanks to a newtrial, thousands of BUPA members receiving hip or knee replacements could findthemselves discharged early to receive recovery support in their own homes.BUPA is the first medical insurer in the UK to offer this service.

BUPA will be running the trial in the West Midlands inpartnership with Healthcare at Home, specialists in complex home care servicesand three West Midlands hospitals. BUPA members will be offered the option togo home up to five days earlier than usual following major joint surgery to berehabilitated in the comfort of their own surroundings and back with their families.Intensive physiotherapy and specialist nursing care will be provided followingdischarge as well as a 24 hour on-call service.

Medical professionals agree that long lengths of stay inhospital are not necessarily better for patients and can result in increaseddependence and postoperative complications for some patients. It is wellaccepted that the key to achieving the best long-term outcomes for jointreplacement patients is by encouraging them to become mobile as soon aspossible following surgery and that this is done by supporting them at home.

Dr Chris Dickson, BUPA's head of care management servicessaid: "The trial will involve between 100 and 150 patients and we will becarefully reviewing each individual's overall mental and physical recoveryafter a 12-month period. This will help us evaluate the benefits of earlydischarge and expert home care and compare it with longer stays in hospital.Ultimately we want to continue to provide our members with the best possiblehealth care and treatment options. We hope that this trial will serve toenhance the quality of services we currently provide to our members."

Some BUPA members* in the West Midlands having a hip orknee replacement procedure in the next six months can be considered for thetrial, with the agreement of their consultant. Each patient will be carefullyscreened to ensure they are appropriately fit for early discharge before beingincluded.

* Those BUPA members with the appropriate insuranceschemes will be eligible for the trial.