German hip op plan defended

UK hospitals will be used first

A health boss says she would be prepared to send patients abroad for operations - but only as a last resort.

West Sussex Health Authority is paving the way for NHS hip replacements to be carried out in Germany.

Its chief executive, Candy Morris, said that she would consider "a range of options" to bring down waiting lists in her area.

However, she said that she did not expect to have to use German hospitals, as there was likely to be enough capacity in a combination of NHS hospitals and those in the private sector.

She said: "We will only consider transferring patients abroad if we can't treat them in this country - and we have no reason at this stage to suppose we can't."

We will only consider transferring patients abroad if we can't treat them in this country

Candy Morris, West Sussex Health Authority

Negotiations between the authority and a German private healthcare company involve flying patients to Dusseldorf for a three week hospital stay.

The cost of each hip replacement operation to the NHS would be approximately £6,000 - the average within NHS hospitals is £4,000, although there are wide variations.

The Department of Health insists that private hospitals in the UK should used in preference to those abroad.

However, experts in West Sussex say that there may be no alternative to the foreign plan if waiting lists are to be cut.

Lists for orthopaedic operations are lengthy in the region - this has been blamed on a disproportionately high number of elderly residents.

'Ease the pressure'

Brian Howard, the chief executive of Crawley primary care group - which helps organise health services for the area - said the German scheme might be the only way to meet a waiting list target of 15 months maximum by next spring.

Former Labour minister Frank Field also supported the proposal.

Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, he said that he had suggested the idea to ministers.

He said: "This could buy some time, it could take some pressure off the system."

The government has pledged to bring maximum waiting times for inpatient treatments and operations down to six months by 2005.

A recent National Audit Office report suggested that many doctors were forced to treat less seriously ill patients first in order to cut lists.