Hospital care

Borders General Hospital, known affectionately by some as GBH, has introduced an “enhanced recovery programme” to enable hip and knee replacement patients to be up and walking the same day after surgery, and go home the next day.

Mr Mehdi, consultant surgeon, infuses local anaesthetics for same-day walking. A report describing the process says that “patients are sent to ‘hip and knee school’ beforehand so that they are fit for the operation and know what is required of them afterwards”.

I would comment that generally older people are not fit if they need hip or knee replacement; and afterwards the patient needs physiotherapy before being expected to carry on with their own self administered painful exercising. Care in the Community wins again as early discharge allows this hospital “to go from having one of the longest stays to one of the shortest”.

Ronald Rankin

Coates House

Dalkeith