Cardiac surgical audit Epworth Hospital 2002

The cardiac surgical programme at Epworth Hospital has performed in excess of 13 000 open-heart surgical procedures between 1981 and 2003. During the audit period (2002) 411 patients underwent open-heart surgery. The 2002 Cardiac Surgical Audit confirms the very high standard of surgery. The goals for the future are to maintain the low complication rate and maintain an efficiency to reduce the financial burden on the hospital, the insurance companies and the health system.