‘Thousands’ of NHS joint replacement operations could be CANCELLED,
It’s estimated that thousands of NHS joint replacement operations could be cancelled due to a shortage of vital bone cement.
A statement released by the health body’s supply chain department last night warned the clinical and orthopaedic leads of NHS trusts nationwide that there could be manufacturing delays of ‘at least’ two months.
It read: ‘We have been informed by our supplier, Heraeus Medical, of a packaging fault affecting their bone cement products.
‘This issue has temporarily halted production at their main site and will impact product availability for at least two months.
‘We are engaging with alternative suppliers in this market and are identifying their ability to provide alternative products that are compliant routes to market in this period of disruption.’
There are a total of 15 Heraeus bone cement products affected by the packaging issue.
Some are standard fixation cements, used in orthopaedic surgery to fix artificial joints securely to bone, most commonly in hip and knee replacements.
The cement acts like a strong grout, filling the space between the metal implant and the patient’s bone.
It is designed to harden quickly and creates a stable bond to keep the new implant firmly in place.
Meanwhile, others contain antibiotics which are released locally into the surrounding tissue and are used when there is a higher risk of infection, or during revision surgery where a joint replacement has previously failed or become infected.
Some of the affected products are designed specifically for infection management in revision surgery and are used either to permanently re-fix a new implant after infection has been cleared, or to create temporary cement ‘spacers’ in two-stage revision procedures.
In those cases, the cement helps maintain joint space and stability while delivering high local doses of antibiotics before a new implant is inserted.
According to parliamentary data from February 2025, 31,323 patients were waiting for a hip replacement, with a median waiting time of roughly 24.7 weeks, and 49,500 patients were on the waiting list for a knee replacement, with an average wait of 28.7 weeks.
This could mean that the two month cement hold-up could affect thousands of patients – some of whom have already been waiting for months for treatment.
Data covering 2023/24 revealed that the NHS England performed 120,000 hip replacement procedures and 96,000 knee replacements in that period.
The NHS is taking the issue seriously, and has established an incident team and are working closely with Heraeus Medical.
The supply chain notice stated: ‘We are assessing the potential supply impact and will provide further updates as more information becomes available.
‘We are coordinating with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to manage the situation nationally.
‘NHS Supply Chain is engaging with the impacted supplier Heraeus Medical and alternative suppliers to identify potential support options.’
Heraeus Medical UK Ltd is listed as a supplier under the NHS’ Total Orthopaedic Solutions 3 (TOS3) framework which means that they hold a contract worth between £1.8bn to £2bn over four years.
Deborah Alsina, Chief Executive of Arthritis UK, said: ‘This is a crushing blow for those individuals who have finally made it to the front of the orthopaedic surgery queue after a long time waiting.
‘We trust the Department for Health and Social Care will work hard to address the supply issues given the impact on those waiting in pain whose lives are left on hold.
‘Aside from the personal toll on people with arthritis, the stakes are high for Government who have an uphill challenge to bring down waiting lists to meet ambitious targets.
‘As this news breaks, we urge hospitals to communicate quickly with those affected to avoid additional worry and uncertainty.
‘We are also offering support to anyone concerned about the impact of these delays through our free helpline and online community, where they can access information and advice while they wait for the surgery they so desperately need.’
The treatment delays come as waiting times for routine hospital treatments like hip replacement surgeries are at all all-time high.
More than 7.37million treatments—relating to 6.23million patients— are now in the queue for ops like hip replacements, according to latest figures.
This includes over 190,000 people stuck in limbo for at least a year, often in pain.
Information released by Heraeus reassured the NHS that patients who had had operations using the existing products are not affected.
It read: ‘In a recent project to improve our production processes and the packaging used in our pouch bone cements, we have unfortunately experienced a critical machine failure at our main production site.
‘This is currently preventing us from releasing the pouch bone cements that were manufactured on this machine.
‘We plan to re-start production as quickly as possible, but with the production cycle time to get products to the market, this will result in a supply shortage of pouch cements for at least the next two months.
‘Products already in the market are not affected and comply with our packaging quality criteria.’
An NHS spokesperson told the Daily Mail: ‘Following a global supply issue, the NHS is issuing immediate guidance to hospitals to ensure trauma and urgent care can safely continue, enable the use of alternative suppliers where possible, and to support prioritisation of orthopaedic waiting lists based on patients’ needs over the coming weeks.
‘Any stock already in hospitals is unaffected, and the NHS is working closely with government and leading professional bodies to ensure safe and effective care can be provided while supply is resolved, and to reduce delays for patients requiring less urgent care as far as possible.’
