I can't help feeling that Mrs Sansom is being a very unfair on the Queen Mary's Hospital.
The fact is, the metal-on-metal hip replacement, or the Birmingham hip resurfacing that she refers to, is a relatively new innovation.
The whole issue was referred to the National Institute for Clinical Effectiveness (NICE) last year and its advice is expected shortly.
In the meantime, it would be wrong for any NHS Trust to advocate a change of practice until the NICE appraisal is complete.
If NICE gives the go ahead, that will place pressure on NHS commissioners to ensure funding is available not just here, but all over the country.
At the moment though, it is not a financial matter, as Mrs Sansom seems to suggest. NHS Trusts and orthopaedic surgeons everywhere are waiting for the the clinical assessment.
David Gilbert
Tennyson Close
Welling
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