Hiqa: Many hip and knee ops aren’t cost-effective

Elderly people could soon find it more difficult to get hip and knee operations under new recommendations which say many of these are not “cost-effective”.

As part of its ongoing health technology assessments of a series of non-life-threatening surgeries, Hiqa, the State’s health watchdog, has suggested some hip and knee operations are not cost-effective.

This is because of the level of quality-of-life improvement they bring to certain people, and the fact other, more practical, non-surgical options may be available.