Heart disease
The Information Centre runs a programme of nine national heart disease audits. Each audit offers reliable information to help health professionals continually measure and improve care by comparing their work to specific standards and national trends.
The following heart disease audits are being run:
Adult cardiac interventions, cardiac rhythm management, adult cardiac surgery service, ambulance outcomes, cardiac rehabilitation, congenital heart disease, heart failure, infarct angioplasty and myocardial infarction.The audits look at specific aspects of heart disease as well as aiming to link the audits together to follow a patient's treatment and outcomes throughout their lifetime. This is done without being dependent on where they received treatment, who provided their care and what treatment they received.
Participating in the audits has a number of benefits including:
- allowing healthcare professionals to examine the management of patients with heart disease and use findings to identify and maintain improvements
- the potential to improve the quality of life and survival outcomes for patients which will also have a positive impact on NHS resource management
- providing evidence that local services are clinically and cost effective by meeting the standards set by the Department of Health, the Healthcare Commission and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).
Access a list of trusts that are participating in the heart disease audits (xls 113KB)
The following examples are where national audit data has been used to improve the quality of patient care:
- The treatment of heart attacks and improved access to thrombolysis for heart attack patients
Over the last six years, ambulance services and hospitals have used Myocardial Infarction National Audit Project (MINAP) data to identify barriers to meeting national targets.
Treatment times have been shortened through a number of developments in both ambulance services and in hospitals. These include the way emergency calls are handles, locating ambulances closest to where they are needed and introducing pre-hospital thrombolysis. - Improved access to angioplasty
Data collected by the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society (BCIS) audit shows that the number of angiograms and PCI treatment exceed the numbers expected by the Coronary Heart Disease National Service Framework (CHD NSF). In 2000, the CHD NSF target was 750 per million population (pmp).
By 2005, the actual number in England was 1,169pmp and in Wales 873pmp. This has been achieved through a number of initiatives to manage demand and capacity including moves towards common waiting lists, service reviews and the introduction of new roles. - Public access to information
Giving patients more choice about how, when and where they receive treatment is a cornerstone of the Government's health strategy.
Information from the heart disease audits can be used by patients and carers to help make informed choices about their care and treatment.
The National Clincal Audit Support Programme (NCASP) currently supports two public facing portals; the Healthcare Commissions Cardiac Surgery website and the Congenital Heart Disease Website. Both provide information that helps patients make informed choices about their care and treatment.