RJAH awarded for commitment to patient safety by the National Joint Registry

The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt (RJAH) Orthopaedic Hospital is celebrating after being named a National Joint Registry (NJR) Quality Data Provider, for the fourth year running.

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 Quality Data Provider is awarded to hospitals who successfully complete a national programme of local data audits, which aim to support patient safety.

In order to achieve the award, hospitals are required to meet a series of six ambitious targets. One of the targets which hospitals are required to complete ensures that the NJR is collecting and reporting upon the most complete, accurate data possible across all hospitals performing joint replacement operations.

Mr. Sudheer Karlakki, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at RJAH and Regional Clinical Coordinator for the West Midlands, said: “Achieving yet another award from the NJR for complete data submission is no easy task.

“It takes some dedication and a serious effort from all, especially the team who upload this information on to NJR and ensure that every surgical data chased and uploaded.”

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.

Dr Ruth Longfellow, Chief Medical Officer at RJAH, said: “Patient safety and the quality of patient care is of the upmost importance and something all staff take very seriously.

“We fully support the National Joint Registry’s work in facilitating improvement in clinical outcomes and governance for the benefit of patients having knee surgery and we’re delighted to be awarded as an NJR Quality Data Provider.”

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