'Feather in our cap' as KGH gets top award

Kettering General Hospital has been given a top award for the way it collects information about joint replacement surgery.

The Rothwell Road hospital has been awarded the National Joint Registry (NJR) Quality Data Provider certificate for the scrupulous way it it gathers and submits information to support a national safety system for joint replacements.

The NJR is a national body which collects data from all NHS and private providers in the country who fit hip, knee, ankle, elbow or shoulder joint replacement joints. They help make joint replacement surgery safer by encouraging NHS trusts to achieve the highest possible standards of accuracy when reporting on surgery by meeting stringent standards tested through quality checks.

Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Christos Plakogiannis, who has been supporting the work, said: “It is a feather in our cap to have achieved this certification and it demonstrates the commitment of KGH’s orthopaedic team to our patients to do everything we possibly can to provide safe and effective replacement operations for them.”

Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Dipen Menon, who is the hospital’s National Joint Registry lead, said: “The work the NJR do is very important as it enables a very thorough review of the success of the different types of joint replacements on the market, how safe they are, and how often they fail and need to be replaced.

“Achieving the Data Quality Provider certificate signifies our commitment to that process and to our patients, demonstrating that the way we record, monitor and document all joint replacements are rigorous and up to date.

“The NJR can serve as an early warning system for anything that can go wrong in joint replacement surgery and also helps surgeons to understand the results of different joint replacements in the long-term.

“We have worked very hard with our patients, with our audit team, and with clinicians to achieve these standards. I want to thank everyone who has supported our efforts in this for their hard work in establishing effective processes – and to our patients who consent to having their anonymised data sent on to the NJR.”

National Joint Registry medical director Tim Wilton said: “Congratulations to colleagues at Kettering General Hospital. The Quality Data Provider Award demonstrates the high standards being met towards ensuring compliance with the NJR and is often a reflection of strong departmental efforts 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.”

In order to achieve the award, hospitals are required to meet a series of ambitious targets during the audit period 2019/20.

The NJR Data Quality Audit investigates the accurate 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.

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