Helping you find the best joint replacement surgeons

When you’re considering a joint replacement, nothing matters more than confidence in the surgeon performing your operation. At The MedicBook, our mission is simple: we help patients find the very best specialists in the country for hip, knee, ankle, shoulder and elbow replacements.

Why surgeon performance data matters

The UK is fortunate to have the National Joint Registry (NJR) — the largest database of its kind in the world. Covering England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and Guernsey, it captures every hip, knee, ankle, shoulder and elbow replacement. This makes it an extraordinary resource for patients.

The NJR tracks:

• Surgeon activity: how many replacements each consultant performs, and which joints they operate on.
• Implant performance: which devices are used, and how well they stand the test of time.
• Patient outcomes: how people feel six months after surgery, measured by pain, function and quality of life.
• Revision rates: how often implants fail and need re-doing (and surgeons' revision rates available by request only).
• Hospital activity: volumes by joint and the surgeons performing replacements in each location.
  
  

Some of this information is available openly online, meaning patients can check their surgeon’s profile. Other details, such as a surgeon's Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and individual revision rates are only shared with each surgeon — but may be available on request if the surgeon is happy to do so.

What the numbers show

Not all surgeons are the same. For example:

• The NJR makes clear whether a surgeon is a true specialist in just one or two joints (which is what you want), or whether they spread their practice thinly across multiple joints.
• Surgeon volume matters. A high-volume surgeon in a high-volume hospital is likely to be associated with better patient outcomes.
• National averages give you context: the average hip surgeon in the UK performed 54 hip replacements in the last year.
  

A real-world example: Surgeon A

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To see what difference this makes, consider one of the UK’s foremost hip replacement surgeons — let’s call him Surgeon A.

• He performs hip replacements only (no knees, shoulders, elbows or ankles).
• In the most recent NJR report, he carried out almost 300 hip replacements in a single year — nearly six times the national average.
• Other surgeons turn to him when they need hip surgery themselves.
  

But it’s not just about numbers. It’s about results:

• His revision rates (the chance of a hip replacement needing a redo) are around a third of the national average, with the strongest statistical confidence.
• On PROMs, 63.2% of his patients rated their results as “Excellent” at 6 months, compared to a national average of 42.5%.
• When asked whether they were “much better” after surgery, 94.6% of his patients agreed, compared to 87.1% nationally.

These are world-class outcomes. And patients should ask themselves why they wouldn’t want such excellence before going ahead with surgery.

Beyond hips: finding the best surgeon for every joint

While Surgeon A is exceptional for hips, The MedicBook also tracks the very best specialists in knees, ankles, shoulders and elbows. We combine NJR data with our own research and meet the surgeons to ensure we direct patients to consultants who:

• Focus on one or two joints only,
• Work in leading, high-volume centres, and
• Deliver patient outcomes above national benchmarks.

This means patients looking for any kind of joint replacement can have the same confidence as those needing a hip.

Why this matters for patients

Joint replacement surgery is life-changing. Alongside cataract and cardiac surgery, hip replacement is one of the three most transformative operations in medicine, restoring independence, mobility and quality of life.

By choosing a surgeon with the right focus, volumes and outcomes, you’re not just getting a new joint — you’re getting your life back faster, with the highest chance of long-term success.