ItsTime
04-06-2011, 05:51 PM
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2011/04/england-raises-threshold-for-pain-obese.html
In several areas routine surgery was put on hold for months, while in many others new thresholds for hip and knee replacements have been introduced...Surgeons have described the delays faced by patients as "devastating and cruel". Peter Kay, the president of the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA), says they've become increasingly frustrated that hip and knee replacements are being targeted as a way of finding savings.
They include introducing scoring systems for patients for pain or disability, or not allowing some obese patients to be referred for surgery until they have been on a weight loss programme.
In several areas routine surgery was put on hold for months, while in many others new thresholds for hip and knee replacements have been introduced...Surgeons have described the delays faced by patients as "devastating and cruel". Peter Kay, the president of the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA), says they've become increasingly frustrated that hip and knee replacements are being targeted as a way of finding savings.
They include introducing scoring systems for patients for pain or disability, or not allowing some obese patients to be referred for surgery until they have been on a weight loss programme.