All I want for Christmas is ... a new hip
MOST people wish for a fancy watch or some expensive perfume at Christmas but for some the opportunity to get a new hip or knee is the perfect present.
This year Sywell-based company People Logistics is granting hundreds of people their wish by transporting them to France for surgery and bringing them home before the festivities begin.
The family-run firm was set up in 2001 in response to Government plans to ship people to the continent for operations, to help reduce hospital waiting times.
But despite initial interest from health authorities in Northamptonshire and surrounding counties, this never materialised and the company focused on private clients.
Logistics expert Phil Smith, said during the past five years they had helped up to 2,000 patients, but only 30 on the NHS, funded by Reading Primary Care Trust.
The company, based at Sywell Aerodrome, has grown rapidly in the past few years due to the public's increased disillusionment with the NHS, amidst fears of hospital superbugs, hidden waiting lists and staff shortages.
Mr Smith explained: "We were set up to help the NHS cut waiting lists but it never really took off.
"The majority of our clients now are NHS patients who can't wait any longer or are scared of infection rates in hospital. Private treatment in the UK is about 15,000 and our highest price is 6,850, which is a big saving.
"We are constantly growing. At the moment we get 10 new patients a week. Some are told they are too young and others are too old or not in enough pain to warrant surgery.
"We get people from all over. We fly people in from Scotland and Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man and even some ex-pats from Spain."
People Logistics is one of a dozen UK firms springing up in response to public concerns about the state of the NHS.
In October the Chronicle & Echo reported that 64-year-old Thomas Rouse from Woodford Halse had spent 5,200 on a private procedure in Tunisia to remove an aortic aneurysm.
Although the operation was criticised by Northampton General Hospital surgeons as risky and unnecessary, Mr Rouse still has no regrets and was happy to fork out thousands to private company Operations Abroad who arranged the procedure.
People Logistics however concentrates on knee and hip operations, many of which would eventually be carried out by the NHS, once a patient reaches the top of the lengthy waiting list.
The small firm consists of seven members of staff, including a manager based in France.
Mr Smith works alongside his sister Charlotte Greenwood who controls the day-to-day administration, booking of theatre spaces and passing on of medical records.
Their father Kevin Smith, who has a background in healthcare supply, develops and arranges the treatment packages, whilst also controlling the finances.
This leaves his son to concentrate on the collection and delivery of patients across the UK and abroad, on a strict timescale.
The company was set up in the Smiths' hometown of Northampton, which has given it excellent links to the UK via motorways and airports.
It originally used a clinic in Belgium but was contacted by Dr Philippe Renaux, a chief orthopaedic consultant in France who was interested in carrying out surgery for the company at a location closer to England.
Mr Smith said: "We wouldn't go anywhere else now. When you have got faith in a consultant like we have, you don't want to lose it."
Dr Renaux has worked in America and Japan but is currently employed full-time in joint replacement surgery at the Clinique Sainte Isabelle in Abbeville. He was made an honorary NHS consultant by the Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority following surgery on the 30 patients from Reading in 2003.
He recommended a second senior orthopaedic consultant Dr Jean-Luc Plaquet, to People Logistics, because of his experience in joint replacement surgery.
Dr Plaquet is a member of the UK General Medical Council and works at the Clinique Villette in nearby Dunkerque.
He undertakes about 900 operations a year with about one third of these being knee surgery.
Both the surgeons use minimal invasive hip replacement which only leaves a small scar, compared to a much larger one left by procedures carried out in the UK.
Mr Smith added: "We can get people into surgery within 10 days of when they first inquire. We have people coming back before Christmas and others who will be treated over Christmas because they have chosen to."
To find out more visit www.people-logistics.com or call 0800 587 9501.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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