HEALTH chiefs say the county has one of the highest rates of hysterectomies in Britain because of an ageing population.

It has been revealed that Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust performs the joint 13th highest rate of hysterectomies out of the UK's 75 trusts.

The Times newspaper's latest independent Hospital Consultants Guide, has revealed the trust carries out hysterectomies for the Redditch and Bromsgrove Primary Care Trust at a rate 41 per cent higher than the national average - performing 86 in the 2002 to 2003 financial year.

The news comes after a study, published last year, found about a third of the hysterectomies carried out in England in the mid-1990s were not medically justified.

Researchers looked at nearly 38,000 hysterectomies performed over 12 months and found 46 per cent were conducted on women diagnosed with dysfunctional uterine bleeding - a condition characterised by heavy bleeding.

In the past, this was treated by hysterectomy, but now a technique called endometrial ablation can avoid the need to remove the womb while destroying the source of the heavy bleeding.

Since then, there have been moves by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and women's groups to reduce the number of hysterectomies carried out unless they are absolutely necessary.

Richard Haynes, head of communications at the trust - which performs hysterectomies at the Alexandra Hospital, in Redditch, and Worcestershire Royal Hospital - said the statistics did not mean the trust was carrying out unnecessary hysterectomies.

"There is no doubt that hysterectomy is the form of treatment that is the choice of many women who, having had the operation are very, very happy with the outcome and the transformation it brings to their lives," said Mr Haynes.

"Anyone coming in for major surgery, such as a hysterectomy, will be consulted and given advice about the possible risks or complications.

"I think statistics are influenced by the population and we believe one of the factors influencing our rate of hysterectomies is the relative ageing population here.

Treatments

"We are not treating more people unnecessarily, we are in an area where more people need or want hysterectomies.

"That said, we are working closely with all the PCTs here to explore making other treatments available."

He said new technologies, including endometrial ablation, are being used at the hospitals, and the trust is looking to increase the availability of these operations.

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