How do you know if your knee surgeon is any good? How can you tell how experienced they are, or what patients thought about them? Alex explains.
*photo courtesy of Panchenko Vladimir via Shutterstock
There are many advantages to private knee surgery. One of the biggest is that you can choose your knee surgeon. Quite understandably, this matters to patients. If you were having your kitchen remodelled or your garden landscaped, you wouldn’t simply choose the first person who came along to do the job. You’d research them, check their reviews, and make a carefully considered decision.
Choose private orthopaedic surgery in Gloucestershire, and the same thing applies. The challenge is that, in my experience, not too many patients know about their options and the wealth of information available when it comes to making that surgeon choice. And a choice without the data to make it really isn’t a choice at all.
So in this post, I’ll briefly take you through several sources of information that can help you select your surgeon.
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Testimonials & Case Studies
The starting point for researching your Gloucestershire hip/knee consultant is the surgeon’s own website. Inevitably, the information you’ll find there is curated, but it’s a good starting point in terms of exploring the testimonials the surgeon would like you to see.
> You can explore my testimonials here
Perhaps more importantly, the surgeon’s own website is where you’ll find long-form case studies where patients talk in their own words about their experiences. Not every knee consultant will share these, but my take on them has always been to publish an entirely honest account, so you can get a complete picture of knee or hip surgery with me.
We interview patients and write up their accounts in their own words. Then they approve the content before we publish, so you know it’s authentic.
We’re gradually building a bank of these (you can explore my case studies here). If you would like to be part of a future case study I’d very much appreciate it. Please get in touch here.
Doctify
The problem with a hip and knee surgeon’s own website is that you can’t know what they’re not telling you. So for the next stage of reassurance, visit Doctify. Doctify is an independent review site for consultants, hospitals, dentists and care providers (a bit like a Checkatrade of the health world).
The reviews on Doctify are verified as genuine and the people or institutions being reviewed aren’t able to edit them.
National Joint Registry
For the next stage of your research, take a look at the National Joint Registry (NJR), which records all joint surgery across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It records the performance not just of surgeons, but also of the implants they use. It also records the types of patients treated. Surgeons have no way of influencing the data on here, other than through the work they do every day.
There’s lots of information in here, but at the most basic level it’s a way of ensuring the knee or hip surgeon you’re thinking about using has performed lots of procedures.
> You can find my NJR profile here
Book your knee surgery
Reassurance is enormously important to patients. You need to feel comfortable with your hip or knee surgeon and confident that they can deliver the outcomes they indicate are possible.
If, after using the above sources, you’d like to explore your treatment options with me, please book an appointment or call 01242 246549
> Discover more about knee replacements
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