{"id":196070,"date":"2025-10-13T01:49:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T01:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/196070\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T01:49:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T01:49:20","slug":"in-the-operating-theatre-at-9-10am-home-by-5pm-having-a-curry-grandmothers-incredible-hip-surgery-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/196070\/","title":{"rendered":"‘In the operating theatre at 9.10am – home by 5pm having a curry!’ Grandmother’s incredible hip surgery story"},"content":{"rendered":"

But that has all changed for Ruth Denney, 71, after she underwent bilateral hip replacement surgery \u2013 meaning she had both hips replaced in the same procedure \u2013 at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital<\/a> (RJAH) near Oswestry<\/a>.
Ruth, from Onneley, near Market Drayton<\/a>, also now holds a unique record \u2013 having become the first bilateral hip replacement patient to be discharged home on the same day as her surgery.<\/p>\n

The hospital has also achieved a similar feat for its first bilateral knee replacement patient discharged on the day of surgery.<\/p>\n

Paul Garstone, 66, from Shrewsbury<\/a> holds that distinction, having gone under the knife for \u2018unicompartmental\u2019 knee replacements in June.<\/p>\n

This means only the damaged ‘compartments’ of his knees were replaced, which is a less invasive alternative to total replacement.
Both Ruth and Paul were seen through the hospital\u2019s Enhanced Recovery Programme.<\/p>\n

\"RuthRuth Denney with consultant Mr Niall Graham, and some of the clinical team that cared for her during her treatment at RJAH<\/p>\n

This is a modern, surgically-led, evidence-based approach that helps patients undergoing surgery get back to health as soon as possible following their operation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It ensures that a patient’s health is optimised prior to surgery, that improved pain management is introduced during their hospital stay, and that post-operative mobilisation is achieved earlier.
Ruth had her bilateral hip replacement under consultant orthopaedic surgeon Mr Niall Graham.
She said: \u201cI hadn\u2019t been able to walk properly for about two years. I had the operation in the middle of July and, just six weeks or so later I was able to be outside playing hide and seek with my grandchildren, who are five and seven. I hadn\u2019t done that for at least 12 months, if not longer, so it was special for me.
\u201cThe operation all went so smoothly. I was in the operating theatre at 9.10am and out again at about 11.30am, and straight into recovery. I remember I had a pork dinner at 12 and was then up and out of the bed at about 12.30pm. I was home by 5pm, eating a takeaway curry for tea!
\u201cWhen I was discharged, the Enhanced Recovery Team gave me a number to call if I needed any help, so I knew that support was there.\u201d<\/p>\n


Paul was away on a work trip in Slovakia in his role as a supply chain director for a German automotive parts supplier, when his knee gave way with a crack on a flight of stairs and he fell.
He managed to get home in a lot of pain, and was subsequently seen at RJAH by Mr Pete Gallacher, who diagnosed extensive damage to the cartilage that would mean a replacement knee was required.<\/p>\n

While waiting for that procedure, his left knee gave way too, and a scan led to the same diagnosis.
He opted for bilateral knee replacement \u2013 having both done in the same operation \u2013 and the procedure took place back in June.
\u201cMy recovery has gone really well,\u201d said Paul. \u201cAt first I walked using crutches, even just to go to the kitchen, but after about 10 days I got up and realised I\u2019d forgotten to take them with me, so from then on I mostly walked around the house without them.
\u201cWhen I realised I was going to need surgery, I actively decided to lose weight and that has helped a lot. I\u2019ve lost 4st in total, and since I had my knees done I\u2019ve lost about 20lbs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember I went in for surgery at around 12 noon and was back on the ward at 4pm. I was up walking around at 7pm, and was back at home by 9.45pm. It was remarkable.\u201d
RJAH’s Enhanced Recovery Team has demonstrated that the Enhanced Recovery Pathway protocol is both safe and highly effective, achieving a reduction in length of stay (LOS) by over 80 per cent.<\/p>\n

More than 20 per cent of patients on the pathway are discharged on the same day (day 0), and more than 90 per cent are discharged within 24 hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This significant decrease in LOS is associated with improved patient outcomes, including reductions in mortality, morbidity, and infection rates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Furthermore, patients report a better overall experience, particularly after discharge, thanks to a dedicated support team who provide ongoing care and guidance in the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But that has all changed for Ruth Denney, 71, after she underwent bilateral hip replacement surgery \u2013 meaning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[47314,102,2960,2652,50,43717,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-196070","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-gobowen","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-local-hubs","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-oswestry","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}