Affordable Hip Replacement in the UK: The Horder Centre's promise of quality at a fair price

Mr Andrew Skyrme - Director of Orthopaedics

Private hip replacement surgeries in the UK present patients with a broad spectrum of options, from high-end clinics in the heart of London to cost-effective hospitals situated further afield. The challenge often lies in discerning where one might find the golden mean between affordability and outstanding care.

The Horder Centre in East Sussex: setting a new benchmark

I work at The Horder Centre, situated on the border between East Sussex and Kent. The Horder Centre sets an example that reframes common perceptions about private healthcare cost and quality. With a competitive price of around £12,500 for a hip replacement procedure, it may be easy to wonder if service quality is sacrificed. But this couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Comparing costs: London and beyond

A comparative analysis of London's medical establishments reveals a conspicuous difference in procedure costs. Central London facilities, with their expensive non-healthcare related costs such as real estate, can often come with a higher price tag. However, it's essential to discern that a ‘heftier’ invoice doesn’t always translate to better care.

Moving further from metropolitan London, the prices tend to moderate, with centres like The Horder Centre leading the charge in offering both affordability and excellent outcomes from the top performing surgeons in the country.

Deciphering the price variance

Several factors contribute to the varying costs of medical procedures. Geographical location, with its associated property costs, staff costs, and more complex medical services such as consultant intensivists and ITU facilities 24/7, can substantially affect the overall price.

Making an informed decision: beyond the price tag

While financial considerations are undoubtedly significant, the ultimate focus for patients should be the surgeon’s outcomes. Factors such as the facility's reputation, surgeon's experience, patient testimonials, and post-operative success rates should take precedence.

So, how then should patients make a decision about who to see for an operation? It is tempting, in the complex world of healthcare, to defer to your closest hospital, but your closest hospital is potentially £2,000 or £3,000 more expensive (and more) than alternatives slightly further afield. The Horder Centre is a charity which allows us to provide healthcare such as hip and knee replacements at considerably reduced prices. But our reputation as the foremost centre for Orthopaedics in the region, attracts some of the highest volume, top performing surgeons in the country as well.

How Compare my Care can also help Horder Centre patients

Getting to and from hospital is not the highest thought on patients' minds before an operation. But on discharge from hospital, after your operation, a professional driver, in a car with soft suspension and wheelchair access etc, makes the process of getting home easier and more comfortable. Especially for patients who live slightly further afield, this can be particularly helpful.
Conclusion

Choosing where you have your operation is such an important decision, it will determine the quality of the outcome from surgery, how quickly you’ll recover, whether you’re more likely to see complications - and as a private patient you have direct control over who you see.

But this checklist is what I’d recommend for self-funding, private patients:

• Find a surgeon performing high volumes of your particular surgery, a true specialist
• Ask your surgeon about their outcomes - whose patients are recovering quickly and, all other things being the same, who have low complication rates.
• Select a hospital with the experience and facilities to look after patients undergoing hip replacement surgery. Teams performing the same surgeries day in, day out, alongside high volume surgeons do make a difference.
• A hospital offering added value, i.e. where the surgical team is top rated, whilst keeping its prices competitive is an important addition to private healthcare in this country.

A few words from Compare my Care

Mr Skyrme is renowned as one of the UK's foremost experts in hip replacement revision surgery. Whilst far less frequently performed, this is a more complex operation for patients whose surgery is initially unsuccessful.
The ‘CQC rated Outstanding’ Horder Centre is a specialised hospital, exclusively in orthopaedics. The staff, facilities and capability reflect this. The hospital’s annual volume of joint replacements performed is among the highest in the country.

Compare my Care works with high quality centres of excellence both inside and outside London. Furthermore, we gain insight into the practices of all surgeons on our platform - by procedure - and where available by looking at their outcomes e.g. The National Joint Registry’s independent data collection.