[A]fter reaching national standards for patient safety, North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust is pleased to have been named as a National Joint Registry (NJR) Quality Data Provider.
The NJR monitors the performance of hip, knee, ankle, elbow and shoulder joint replacement operations to improve clinical outcomes for the benefit of patients. The registry collects orthopaedic data in order to provide evidence to support patient safety, standards in quality of care, and overall cost effectiveness in joint replacement surgery. The ‘NJR Quality Data Provider’ certificate scheme is designed to offer hospitals a blueprint for reaching standards relating to patient safety and reward those who have met registry targets in this area.
To achieve the award, hospitals were required to meet a series of six targets during the 2016/17 financial year. One of the targets which hospitals were required to complete is compliance with the NJR’s mandatory national audit aimed at assessing data completeness and quality within the registry.
The Data Quality Audit investigates the number of joint replacement procedures submitted to the registry compared to the number carried out and recorded in the local hospital Patient Administration System. The audit ensures that the NJR is collecting and reporting upon the most complete, accurate data possible across all hospitals performing joint replacement operations, including the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.
NJR targets also included having a high level of patients consenting for their details to be included in the registry and for demonstrating timely responses to any alerts issued by the NJR in relation to patient safety concerns, if necessary.
Mr Michael Orr, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Improving patient safety is of the upmost importance and something all staff take very seriously. We fully support the National Joint Registry’s work in facilitating improvement in clinical outcomes and governance for the benefit of joint replacement patients and we’re delighted to be awarded as a ‘NJR Quality Data Provider’.”
National Joint Registry medical director, Mr Martyn Porter, said: “Congratulations to colleagues at North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust. The Quality Data Provider award demonstrates the high standards being met towards ensuring compliance with the NJR and is often a strong reflection of a departmental effort to achieve such status.
“Registry data now provides an important source of evidence for regulators, such as the Care Quality Commission, to inform their judgements about services, as well as being a fundamental driver to inform improved quality of care for patients.
“It is clear that for surgeons and patients alike, the necessity for having accurate and complete data is an absolute requirement. The Quality Data Provider award continues to go from strength to strength and highlights the number of hospitals who are now fully engaged with the NJR’s data completeness programme.”
Full details about the NJR’s Quality Data Provider certificate scheme can be found online at: www.njrcentre.org.uk
