July 2017: MoM guidance, events and occupational survey

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) last week revised guidance around ongoing review of patients with metal on metal (MoM) hip replacements (ref: MDA/2017/018).

Full MHRA revised guidance online here >

To support hospitals in identifying patients, the National Joint Registry will supply NHS Trusts and Local Health Boards with records of patients registered with MoM hip replacements. Please download the following confidential information request form to enable you to access these data.

NJR MoM data request template >
NJR MoM webpage including FAQs >

Patients can obtain a copy of the data held on their hip, knee, ankle, elbow or shoulder replacement operation recorded in the registry, providing they consented prior to their operation, by completing a Patient Data Request form and sending the signed form to the NJR Centre at the address on the form.

We would normally expect to provide your data within two to three weeks, although during periods of high demand it may take longer.

Patient Operation Data Request (PDF) >

If you don't have access to a printer, you can contact the NJR Helpdesk via telephone on 0845 345 9991 or email: enquiries@njrcentre.org.uk.

Learn more about Patient Consent here >

OPAL study (Occupational advice for Patient undergoing Arthroplasty of the Lower limb) is a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) project that aims to design an evidence-based intervention to facilitate return to work and usual activities after hip and knee replacement.

The NJR is currently supporting researchers from the OPAL study to deliver a national survey of practice to establish what occupational advice / return to work information is currently offered to patients in work prior to their joint replacement and intending to return to work after surgery. The survey aims to establish what patients are currently being told about returning to work, who delivers this information and when it is delivered.

The OPAL team are requesting that arthroplasty team members (surgeons, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses, care assistants) involved in the pre-operative education or post-operative support of hip and knee replacement patients complete the survey which can be accessed using the link below. The survey takes approximately 5 minutes to complete.

Arthroplasty team members can complete the survey via the following link here >

The National Joint Registry is calling all non-surgical staff in both the NHS and independent sector alike who are involved with the NJR – for example, from pre-assessment units, theatre, data entry, patient safety and clinical governance managers – to the next meeting in its programme of free-to-attend regional events.

The free-to-attend event will take place in London on:
Thursday 19 October 2017, 10am – 4pm
Emmanuel Centre, 9-23 Marsham Street, London

Who should attend?

The one-day educational conference is aimed specifically for non-surgical healthcare staff engaged with the National Joint Registry. The overarching theme will be on improving data quality and collection for hospital staff, for example, from pre-assessment units, theatre, data entry, patient safety and clinical governance managers.

Consultants and surgical staff are encouraged to attend the BOA's 2017 Annual Congress which will be taking place at the ACC Liverpool from 19th – 22nd September 2017. The NJR will be both presenting and exhibiting at the congress on consultant specific developments, initiatives and will be available throughout the duration of the congress to support any individual surgeon queries.

To register your attendance please click here >

The NJR offers a considerable number of services and has worked hard to ensure that the subscription model used not only enables savings but ensures providers pay a fair and proportionate contribution. The subscription charge has remained at its current rate since 2014 with the cost frozen again for 2017/18.

Subscription now includes EMBED service
To offer even greater value for money, for 2017/18 the NJR’s enhanced implant price-benchmarking service, EMBED, will be included as part of the standard NJR subscription charge. This was previously charged at a cost of £5,000 per NHS Trust/Health Board.

The EMBED service offers both surgeons individual reports relating to their own implant use and greater capability to hospital procurement and healthcare management teams to drill down further into pricing data.

Learn more about EMBED and how it can help your hospital via the NJR website here >

The National Joint Registry's latest editions of its Public and Patient Guides (PPGs) to joint replacement surgery are available to download and view online.

The guides include information on Annual Report facts and analysis, including introduction to joint replacement surgery and x-rays about hip, knee, ankle, elbow and shoulder joint replacements.

Public and Patient Guides to the 13th Annual Report:

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