Second PQIP Annual Report published

The College is very pleased to support the Perioperative Quality Improvement Programme’s (PQIP) second annual report.  PQIP is a research study being led by the National Institute of Academic Anaesthesia Health Services Research Centre and University College London, working on behalf of the RCoA and a range of stakeholders.

PQIP has continued to work towards reducing the risk of complications after major surgery through ensuring that patients get the best possible care throughout their perioperative pathway. It is wonderful to see more hospitals than ever collecting patient data and thousands of patients providing their own feedback on satisfaction with care and longer-term quality of life. PQIP’s work is a benefit to teams across the country, giving them the opportunity to act on their own quality data and helping them to improve the quality of the perioperative pathway for their patients. 

Professor Ramani Moonesinghe, Chief Investigator, Perioperative Quality Improvement Programme, said:

“The 2018-19 PQIP report tells a great story of national improvements in the care and outcome of surgical patients. We have been able to look at data from almost 20,000 people undergoing operations which can have a significant impact on health and quality of life. Even though we are still very early in our collective improvement endeavours, major outcomes and some key process measures are improving and we have seen a drop in major postoperative morbidity and length of hospital stay. However, other processes, in particular those that might require multidisciplinary engagement or structural changes are proving somewhat more difficult to gather pace.

“Teams have huge enthusiasm for trying to make improvement happen, but can lack time, resources or a supportive culture for delivering QI projects. So this year we are launching a series of competitions aimed at promoting some local QI activity and spreading stories of good news and success. We are also looking to promote positive stories from hospitals who are really engaging with enhanced recovery whatever that means to them locally. We want to hear success stories about communication and engagement – this is at the centre of our realigned priorities for the coming year.

“It has been heartening to see hundreds of collaborators and thousands of patients who have contributed to PQIP in 124 NHS hospitals so far. We think this is working and we hope more hospitals contribute so we can continue to drive further improvement in patient care.”

PQIP’s 2018-19 Annual Report can be found here. More information can be found on PQIP’s website or by contacting pqip@rcoa.ac.uk. PQIP is funded by the Royal College of Anaesthetists, Health Foundation, and UCL/UCLH NIHR Surgical Outcomes Research Centre.