The 2018-2019 annual report from the Perioperative Quality Improvement Programme (PQIP) shows national improvements in the care and outcome of surgical patients.
The PQIP study is led by the National Institute of Academic Anaesthesia’s Health Services Research Centre and University College London on behalf of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and a range of stakeholders.
Using data from almost 20,000 people undergoing operations across 124 hospitals, in one year, PQIP reported a drop in major post-operative morbidity from 18.7 per cent to 16.4 per cent and a reduction in length of hospital stay from 8.9 days to 7.8 days. The report estimates that if replicated across the NHS, this would lead to annual savings of £346 million.
The report also outlines PQIP’s top five national improvement priorities for 2019-2020: pre-operative assessment, diabetes management, communication and multidisciplinary working, individualised pain management and enhanced recovery.
Professor Ramani Moonesinghe, PQIP Chief Investigator, said: “The 2018-19 PQIP report tells a great story of national improvements in the care and outcome of surgical patients. It has been heartening to see hundreds of collaborators and thousands of patients who have contributed to PQIP in 124 NHS hospitals so far."
The group is now focused on driving further improvement in the field, with a series of competitions.
“We know that making improvements happen takes time, effort and personnel. Teams that have huge enthusiasm for trying to make improvement happen, can lack time, resources or a supportive culture for delivering quality improvement (QI) projects. So, this year we are launching a series of competitions aimed at promoting some local QI activity and spreading stories of good news and success. We want to hear success stories about communication and engagement – this is at the centre of our realigned priorities for the coming year."
