Horton awarded for commitment to patient safety by National Joint Registry

Horton General Hospital in Banbury, part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has been named as a National Joint Registry (NJR) Quality Data Provider after successfully completing a national programme of local data audits.

The NJR monitors the performance of hip, knee, ankle, elbow, and shoulder joint replacement operations to improve clinical outcomes for patients and support clinicians.

The registry collects high quality orthopaedic data with the aim of providing evidence to support patient safety, standards in quality of care, and overall cost-effectiveness in joint replacement surgery.

The 'NJR Quality Data Provider' certificate scheme was introduced to offer hospitals a blueprint for reaching high quality standards relating to patient safety and to reward those who have met registry targets.

To achieve the award, hospitals were required to meet a series of six ambitious targets including compliance with the NJR's mandatory national audit assessing data completeness and quality within the registry.

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 the most complete, accurate data possible across all hospitals performing joint replacement operations, including the Horton General Hospital.

Dr Anny Sykes, Interim Chief Medical Officer at OUH, said: "We're delighted to be recognised as an NJR Quality Data Provider. Improving patient safety is of the upmost importance and something all staff take very seriously. We are supportive of the National Joint Registry's work in facilitating improvement in clinical outcomes and governance for the benefit of joint replacement patients."

Graham Sleat, Deputy Clinical Director for Trauma and Orthopaedics at OUH, added: "We are very proud to have been recognised by the National Joint Registry in this way. This is a recognition of the hard work of our team at the Horton General Hospital in providing high quality care for patients with fractured neck of femur, which includes closely monitoring our clinical outcomes for the benefit of our patients."

Mr Tim Wilton, National Joint Registry Medical Director said: "Congratulations to colleagues at the Horton 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 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."

Full details about the NJR's Quality Data Provider certificate scheme can be found on the NJC website.

Pictured, from left: Julie Kerr (Senior Medical Secretary and lead data inputter for Horton NJR Entry), Nick Gillham (Consultant Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgeon), Graham Sleat (Deputy Clinical Director for Trauma & Orthopaedics; Consultant Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgeon), Dr Angela Kannan (Clinical Lead Horton Trauma and Consultant in Orthogeriatrics), Sanjeev Musuvathy Ravi (CESR Specialty Doctor, Horton Trauma)