National Congenital Heart Disease Audit: 2022 summary report

The National Congenital Heart Disease Audit (NCHDA), which is part of the National Cardiac Audit Programme (NCAP), has published its latest summary report. Based on data from April 2020 to March 2021, it aims to improve the quality of care received by patients from UK or Ireland hospital admission to discharge, and ensure they meet good practice standards. The report found the 30-day survival rate in adults was very good, with approximately 10% fewer deaths than predicted across 2,302 congenital heart disease (CHD) operations. Other key findings include:

• Antenatal diagnosis for all infants requiring a procedure in the first year of life rose to 52% (though variations between centres show scope for improvement), and fetal anomaly screening continued nationally despite the pandemic
• Outcomes after paediatric cardiac surgery continue to show a high 30-day survival rate of over 98%
• Patients with increasing severity of complex CHD (e.g. Fontan circulation) are linked to a higher risk of COVID-19 related complications and associated mortality.

The report goes on to make a number of recommendations including a call for screening hospitals to increase the rate of antenatal diagnosis of conditions requiring intervention in the first year. It also suggests that individual congenital heart disease networks should improve rates of antenatal diagnosis by reviewing staffing, infrastructure, education and training requirements. 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.