Hospitals are encouraged to capture data through the web tool as patients progress through the pathway: at pre-op, during the operation, at post-op stages and at discharge.
“If it is live, each site can see in real-time what is happening to this patient cohort,” says Lourtie. This also means that problems can more easily be highlighted early to minimise impact on patients.
“We flag when organisations need to improve,” he explains. “We provide them with quarterly reports, so they can see if there is an issue. And we have implemented a reporting mechanism, so that if metrics fall below a threshold they trigger an unofficial alert to the organisation’s lead, for them to act on quality improvement.”
“Sites can then do their analysis and change processes. We as a royal college can make recommendations, but it is for the hospitals to implement change.”