Derriford Hospital operation changes help patients 'recover faster'

About 800 people get new hips and knees at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth a year

A new approach to hip and knee replacement surgery is helping patients in Devon and Cornwall recover more quickly, surgeons say.

About 800 people from both counties get new hips and knees at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth each year.

Staff said the hospital's new so-called "joint schools" better-prepared patients for operations.

Specialist teams also monitored patients' progress closely after surgery to help recovery, they added.

Staff, including nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists, talk patients through each stage of the process.

They show them the replacement joints they will receive, and set them daily goals to achieve to help their recovery.

Goals include specialist exercises needed to help them recover.

Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Simon Coleridge said involving patients early on and asking them to closely participate in their rehabilitation and in their recovery care was "vital".

He said: "They're much more informed, and I'm sure they're getting better quicker.

"Hopefully, they get a better range of movement in the joints earlier on, and their long-term function will be better as well."