Hip problem

And age - they won't touch me until I am 60, because they don't want to have to do it twice. Apparently there's a high incidence of failures for the second replacement.

From my experience things have changed in 9 years. Surgeons now tend to look at the impact in your life rather than solely the clinical picture.

Just to add my sleep was so disturbed by the pain at night I wasn't getting more than a few hours sleep and my work was badly affected.

I had a hip-replacement 9yrs ago so have been where you are, when pain is disturbing your sleep and affecting your life significantly then its time to do something. The problem is doctors usually work their way through a whole list of 'fixes' before they recommend surgery, have you actually seen your doctor about your hip and has he prescribed treatments, such as pain relief, physio, anti-inflammatories, injections?
Your GP will probably want you to try these if you haven't already before he refers you. So see your GP and explain how its affecting you so. I was at the stage where I couldn't do my job because of the pain when I was referred so it will also depend on how much you are prepared to put up with..
Its no joke being in that kind of pain I hope you get a sympathetic reponse from your doctor.

I should have said that the hip has been a slight problem for several years but has decided to make itself more if a problem in the last month or so