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At £13,786, Southampton is the priciest UK city on average to have a hip operation, followed by London (£13,700), Edinburgh (£13,590), Cardiff (£13,336), Belfast (£12,999), Manchester (£12,825) and Glasgow (£12,455), according to data from myTribe Insurance.
These big differences in price between regions and cities means it’s always worth checking whether it would work out cheaper to have the operation done further afield.
If you need a hip replacement and live in Edinburgh, for example, travelling less than an hour to Glasgow for treatment, (which costs around £17 in a car or £14 by train), could save you over £1,000 on average.
A Londoner taking the train to Manchester (for around £108 return), would save an average of £767, while hopping on a flight from Southampton to Glasgow could mean slashing the cost of an operation by £1,300.
Picking a provider
While cost is a crucial factor in deciding which provider to choose, quality of surgery and care should come top of the list.
The best place to start is the Care Quality Commission website for information on hospital accreditation and ratings, including for patient safety, cleanliness and quality of care.
All independent healthcare providers are also legally required to submit certain performance data to the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN). Data is submitted at both hospital and consultant level and is published on PHIN’s website.
Mr Steele says it’s important to check the qualifications and experience of the surgeons themselves: “While each of the hospitals will have preferred surgeons and will likely employ them, they’ll also have surgeons that they use on a more occasional basis, much like a contractor.
“As it’s the surgeon performing the surgeries, not the hospital, I’d be looking for surgeon ratings as well as the hospital’s.”
Paying for a hip replacement
The ideal scenario is to claim the cost of a hip operation on private health insurance.
Mr Steels says: “Don’t forget to call your insurer after visiting your GP to activate your insurance. Have your referral details to hand when you call, as your insurer will need this information to confirm that the treatment you need is covered by your policy.”
As health insurance is designed to cover medical issues that occur after you take out the policy, pre-existing conditions aren’t covered. This means that if you don’t already have insurance but are on an NHS waiting list for the procedure, or have seen the GP about your joint, you won’t be able to take out private insurance to cover the cost.
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