HEALTH chiefs are pushing ahead with plans to restrict hip and knee operations – despite huge opposition in a survey of local patients.

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in Worcestershire plan to cut the number of people eligible for hip replacements by 12 per cent and knee replacements by 19 per cent to cut costs and save about £2 million a year.

The plans will mean only the most severe cases, where pain interferes with daily life and ability to sleep, will be eligible, with obese people also likely to have to lose weight before being eligible for an op.

The Royal College of Surgeons has already slammed the proposals and now a survey of almost 4,500 people in Worcestershire has revealed huge opposition.

Some 76 per cent those who filled out online and paper surveys were also against the proposal, while 83 per cent of those interviewed face-to-face said they opposed it.

The Worcestershire CCGs insist they are not preventing access to hip or knee replacements, but ensuring that referrals are "appropriate".

But Peter Pinfield, chairman of patient watchdog Healthwatch Worcestershire, said: “People said don’t touch that and they have done the opposite.

“We are not denying they have difficulty in the budget. There might be more changes that would not require reduction in hip and knee operations.

“I want to see a proper open debate involving patients. Until they do that I have no confidence in it. It goes directly against the findings [of the survey]. It’s a bit naughty."

A spokesman for the CCGs said: "The revision to the clinical commissioning policy is designed to ensure that any referrals are always appropriate and that due consideration is given to alternatives to major surgery, such as pain relief and physiotherapy.

"There’s also an exceptions procedure within the policy whereby anybody who isn’t deemed eligible for surgery can still come through a funding request process for their treatment."

They added that a scoring system is used as a guide, but that decision to operate is made between the surgeon patient and GP.

The policy change will be implemented shortly.

The survey, commissioned by the CCGs, shows proposals related to access to cataract surgery for people with mild sight difficulties, and to physiotherapy for minor injuries are also areas of concern.