Not so long ago, most patients would stay in hospital for about two weeks after hip replacement surgery. Nowadays, the average length of stay has reduced to about 5 or 6 days. In some centres it has been possible to reduce this to just a couple of days. I recently visited the Conquest Hospital in Hastings where consultant orthopaedic surgeon Hugh Apthorp and his team have perfected a pathway which allows patients to get up within a few hours of surgery and go home the next day. The multi-disciplinary team of anaesthetists, nurses, physios and occupational therapists work closely together and the results are very impressive. I’m sure that within a few years it will become the accepted way of managing patients who have had a hip replacement. We will introduce this pathway into Southampton General Hospital in the near future. I will also develop a similar pathway in the private sector. If you would like to discuss this in further detail, please get in touch.