Summary

In 2010, there were an estimated 15 million people in the UK living with long-term conditions such as diabetes or heart disease. Those with long-term conditions use account for a large proportion of visits and healthcare spending, making this one of the biggest challenges facing the NHS. There has been little previous research on how living with a long-term condition affects access to and outcomes of elective surgery.

This study is interested in what variations there are in access to and outcomes of elective hip and knee replacement surgery between patients with different long-term conditions. It also looks at the differences in how patients and clinicians report long-term conditions, as well as the views of healthcare staff on access to surgery for these patients. The project will be using data from two large datasets: Patient-reported Outcomes Measures (PROMs) and Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES), to help answer these questions.

Findings will help to inform the healthcare provided to patients with long-term conditions, and will identify any variations in access to and outcomes of surgery.

Researcher: Bélène Podmore, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Supervisor: Professor Jan van der Meulen, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Start date and duration: October 2015, three years

Partners and collaborators involved: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine