Influence of surgical rate on patients' reported clinical need and outcomes in English NHS

To determine if higher rates of surgery are associated with lower levels of need (patients' pre-operative reports of their symptoms, functional status and quality of life) and with less benefit (patients' post-operative reports).

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) collected before and after joint replacement, hernia repair or varicose vein (VV) surgery in National Health Service (NHS)-funded patients (2009/11). Regression analysis for associations between 10% increase in rates and mean PROM score for Primary Care Trust (PCT) populations.

National rate for hip and knee replacement increased by 6%, unchanged for hernia repair and decreased by 26% for VV surgery. Changes in PCT rates varied but had little or no association with the mean level of need of patients: 10% increase in the rate was associated with only 0.3% decline in the pre-operative PROM score for knee replacement (P < 0.05) and VV surgery (P < 0.001) and no significant change for other procedures. There was no significant association between a 10% change in the rate and the amount of benefit from surgery apart from a slight reduction (0.46%; P < 0.001) in the disease-specific PROM score for VV surgery.

Policies by commissioners to reduce surgical rates in the English NHS cannot be justified on the grounds of avoiding inappropriate operations or increasing cost-utility.