The RNOH Trust awarded for commitment to patient safety by the National Joint Registry

The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust is celebrating after being named as a National Joint Registry (NJR) Quality Data Provider, for the 3^rd year running, 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 primarily for the benefit of patients, but also to support orthopaedic clinicians and industry manufacturers.  The registry collects high quality orthopaedic data in order to provide 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.  

The scheme benefits hospitals and ultimately future patients by recognising and rewarding best practice; increasing engagement and awareness of the importance in quality data collection and helps embed the ethos that better data informs and enables the NJR to develop improved patient outcomes.

In order to achieve the award, hospitals are required to meet a series of six ambitious targets during the audit period 2020/21. One of the targets which hospitals are required to complete is compliance with the NJR’s mandatory national audit aimed at 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 upon the most complete, accurate data possible across all hospitals performing joint replacement operations, including The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust.

NJR targets also include having a high level of patients consenting for their details to be included in the registry and for hospitals to demonstrate timely responses to any alerts issued by the NJR in relation to potential patient safety concerns.

Commenting, Nicky Saunders, Theatre Business Support Manager at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust, said:

“Here at the RNOH, we have fully supported the National Joint Registry’s ongoing work to improve clinical outcomes, and governance for the benefit of joint replacement patients.  As a team, we are delighted to have our hard work recognised by receiving this ‘NJR Quality Data Provider’ award for the third year running. I am extremely proud of our team's dedication and diligence.  On a personal level, for the last three years I have helped develop our processes to include management of queries, local NJR training and auditing the RNOH NJR submissions. and to have won an award for every year I have been involved, is immensely satisfying.”

National Joint Registry Medical Director, Mr Tim Wilton, said:

“Congratulations to colleagues at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust.  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 online at:  https://www.njrcentre.org.uk.