Hundreds of thousands of patients waiting for knee, hip and shoulder replacements on the NHS face significant disruption after the health service’s primary bone cement supplier was forced to temporarily shut down production at its main facility.
German manufacturer Heraeus Medical, which provides roughly three-quarters of all bone cement used across the NHS, suffered a critical machine failure while upgrading its production processes. The company has warned the outage could affect supply for up to two months. The product is used in more than 1,000 operations every week.
Hospitals across the UK currently hold around two weeks’ worth of bone cement stock. NHS England has issued urgent guidance instructing trusts to redirect that supply toward emergency cases — primarily older patients who have suffered falls or fractures — rather than those on planned waiting lists. Four alternative manufacturers already supplying the NHS are being approached to increase output in the interim.
The disruption lands at a particularly difficult moment for NHS orthopaedics, which carries the largest waiting list of any medical speciality in England. Around 850,000 patients are currently awaiting planned joint treatment. NHS guidance asks hospitals to prioritise those in the most severe pain or with the most complex conditions when allocating remaining supply.
Patients have been advised to assume their appointments will proceed as normal unless they are directly contacted and told otherwise.
Deborah Alsina, chief executive of Arthritis UK, called the development a “crushing blow” for patients who had already endured lengthy waits to reach the front of the surgery queue. She urged hospitals to communicate swiftly with those affected to reduce anxiety, and warned that the disruption posed a wider challenge for the government’s ambition to bring waiting lists down.
Heraeus Medical said in a letter to customers that it deeply regretted the delays and that patient wellbeing remained its top priority. NHS England confirmed the supply problem was having a global impact, not limited to the UK alone.
The British Orthopaedic Association said it was working closely with NHS leadership to minimise the impact. It suggested hospitals could make more efficient use of surgical teams and operating theatres in the short term by focusing on procedures that do not require bone cement, helping to prevent a broader backlog from forming while supply is restored.
