National Adult Cardiac Surgery Audit: 2021 summary report

The National Adult Cardiac Surgery Audit (NACSA), which is part of the National Cardiac Audit Programme, has published its latest summary report based on three years of data collected between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2020. Most recently, 31,046 cardiac operations were performed in 2019/20, a 13% fall over five years in almost all elective procedures – with the greatest reduction in women aged 70 years and over. The report also found:

• Waiting times for elective Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) had increased to 104 days (up from 97 days in 2017/18).
• 7% of CABGs are now performed as urgent cases (up from 47.4% in three years), and
• Aortic valve (AV) interventions have increased by 25% over five years.

A 26% fall in isolated mitral valve repairs and a 15.7% fall in isolated mitral valve replacements over five years was also found. However, it was recommended that all hospitals performing mitral surgery should regularly audit their mitral valve repair rate within their team (and repair rates should be used to inform multidisciplinary team meetings and patient consent processes). This report contains a number of other insightful recommendations. Read the full report: You can read the report by clicking on the link below. Stay-up-to-date: For notifications of future reports from HQIP, sign up to our mailing list.