The Trust has been successful in applying to participate in a national collaborative study aiming to improve outcomes in elective orthopaedic surgery, and is one of only 30 in the country participating in this innovative Quality Improvement, Patient Safety and Research trial, which aims to improve outcomes after total hip and total knee replacements.
The purpose of the Quality Improvement for Surgical Teams (QIST) Collaborative, is to improve the quality of care delivered to patients requiring joint replacement surgery. This is done by introducing two complimentary care-bundles for mild anaemia, and Methicillin Sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) decolonisation into routine clinical practice. It comes through the preoperative treatment of mild anaemia, and the decolonisation of all patients having a total hip or total knee replacement, in the hope of reducing the incidence of post-operative infections caused by MSSA.
Mr Guy Selmon, Orthopaedic Consultant and Clinical Lead said: “We are rightfully proud of our record of having a very low rate of risk of infection following joint replacement surgery. Our participation in this clinical trial is an opportunity to make further improvements to reduce the risk even further, which will be extremely beneficial to our patients.”