02/09/2010

Gill Parker, Divisional Service Director, Surgery:

“Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is very pleased with the progress made in providing an excellent service for hip fracture at both our sites.

The fact that Cheltenham General had 3 theatres and 307 patients, and Gloucestershire Royal 6 theatres and 357 patients explains the variance between the sites. Increased evening work at Cheltenham General is expected to impact positively on discrepancies between the 2 sites in terms of the provision of hip surgery within 48 hours.

As the report says, reasons for delays to surgery are “complex, multiple and cumulative” and have been made “necessarily simplistic” for the purposes of the national report. Reasons for delays might include a patient being medically unfit or requiring stabilisation and further investigation prior to surgery.

We are committed to providing the best service for all our patients and are pleased to have shown continuing improvements in this area.”

See the report here