A NEW survey praises local hospitals for their hip surgery successes.
Research published in The Times newspaper shows Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust has one of the lowest mortality rates and waiting times in England for patients having broken hip surgery.
The trust has a mortality factor of 80 with only 12% of patients waiting longer than two days to be operated on.
A mortality factor of 100 means the number of deaths was exactly as expected, taking into account factors beyond the hospital's control such as the age and sex of patients, the diagnosis and whether admission was planned or an emergency.
One of the main factors influencing the chances of survival is how quickly a hospital operates on a patient with a broken hip - the sooner the better.
Ben Edwards, surgical services general manager, said: "The trust's dynamic and forward-thinking multi-disciplinary orthopaedic team is committed to providing first class care to the people of Calderdale and Huddersfield."
He said the low mortality rate figure was thanks to a number of innovative procedures carried out by the trust including:
* The high number of patients who are operated on within 24 hours.
* An intensive physiotherapy regime following the operation.
* Procedures being carried out in a germ free environment which reduces infection rates during surgery
* Action to prevent patients suffering from blood clots following the procedure.
