Quality assessment of cardiac surgery in Britain

Data are available for every Cardiac Surgery unit in Britain and in 70 % are identifiable by surgeon. The data are linked to registration of deaths so survival for a range of operations, and associated patient or procedure related factors, can be evaluated. The choice of statistical triggers (outside 99.99 % confidence intervals) and the time frames of reported data (averaged over three years) (See P.285/353 of the report http://www.scts.org/documents/PDF/5thBlueBook2003.pdf) reduces its value as an early warning system but the rigour of data collecting systems and the level of scrutiny required probably ensure that poor performance will be detected.