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16 October 1998

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Health informatics Europe

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Hospitals league table shows 58% variation in surgical costs

League tables comparing the cost of surgical procedures in different hospitals have been published for the first time by the National Health Service in England and Wales.

They reveal a variation of up to 58% in the cost of some surgical operations. Examples included:

  • cataract removal and lens implant : between £337 - £1,659 (average £699)
  • hip replacement: between £1,834 - £6,494 (average £3,678)
  • vasectomy: £148 - £1,000 (average £332)
  • appendectomy: £468 - £2,108 (average £1,114)


The league tables are based on information about 500 surgical procedures supplied by the 249 NHS trust hospitals which delivered acute care in 1997/98. They are published in a National Schedule of Reference Costs on surgical procedures. They are the first in a proposed series of publications about both the efficiency and the quality of care in NHS hospitals.