Adult cardiac surgery

This project looks at heart operations. Details of who does the operations, the general health of the patients, the nature and outcome of the operation, particularly mortality rates in relation to preoperative risk and major complications are all collected and analysed.

Results are continually monitored to ensure that any underperformance is dealt with swiftly and corrected. The information from this audit is also used for the Care Quality Commission's (formerly the Healthcare Commission) Cardiac website.

The audit was commenced to help monitor the impact of the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease.  The National Service Framework (NSF) for Coronary Heart Disease was announced in March 2000, and set national standards for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of CHD in England.

In particular the Framework required that ‘the NHS and partner agencies should develop, implement and monitor policies that reduce the prevalence of coronary risk factors in the population, and reduce inequalities in risks of developing heart disease.'

Aims of the audit  

To compare results of heart operations carried out in hospitals to help improve outcomes for patients.

• to improve the quality of care for cardiac patients by comparing local hospital performance with national agreed standards
• to understand clinical trends within cardiac surgery in the UK
• to understand the impact of surgical interventions in heart disease and changing trends in treatments and medical care
• to understand which patients benefit most from which surgical intervention in relation to risk factors
• to produce data for the development of risk stratification models for outcome measures.

Organisation of the audit  

The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) and the Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland are carrying out the audit. The HSCIC's National Clinical Audit Support Programme (NCASP) has been contracted to provide IT infrastructure and project management.

The National Clinical Audit Support Programme at the NHS Information Centre

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