UK Carotid Interventions Audit
This prospective, continuous audit aims to inform current provision of relevant services within all hospitals that offer carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and/or carotid stents. The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) funds the audit which is being undertaken as a collaboration between the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland and the Royal College of Physicians.
All consultants who undertake carotid interventions within the UK are eligible to participate in the audit and should register individually even if they only perform a few interventions per year.
Each case undertaken within the audit period is eligible for submission to this audit. Information is required about the care pathway between referral and hospital discharge as well as post-operative follow-up to assess outcome from surgery.
The first two rounds of the audit captured patients who underwent CEA but cannot comment on patients who may have been suitable but did not receive the operation. The audit has shown improvement in expedience overtime but highlighted areas for further change.
The project comprises two complementary components:
- Organisational Audit: Following the succes of the Organisational Survey in 2005-06 (which was reported back to trusts in July 2007), the UK Organisational Audit of Vascular Surgical Services 2009 was conducted in that year and was announced to the press on 22 July 2010. In depth, trust-level results have also been distributed to participants.
- Clinical Audit: Round 1 of the clinical audit included all operations performed between 1 December 2005 and 31 December 2007. Round 2 included operations performed between 1 January 2008 and 30 September 2009 and was publicly reported 22 July 2010. The clinical Audit which is now in its third round of data collection (operations performed between 1 October 2009 and 30 September 2010 and cases should be submitted in an ongoing fashion.
Latest
22 July 2010 - RCP publishes findings from the UK Organisational Audit of Vascular Surgical Services 2009 and Round 2 of the clinical Organisational Audit of Vascular Surgical Services 2009
Aims of the Clinical Audit
- To assess the current speed of delivery of carotid endarterectomy in the UK
- To assess variations in provision of imaging and CEA to encourage national and local action to improve quality and increase capacity
- To assess 30-day mortality and complications at follow-up against the available evidence base