Data from this report show that deaths of patients under the care of a surgeon have increased for the third year in a row. The trend was first noted in 2021 and follows many years of falls in surgical mortality.
The WAASM report puts the increases down to COVID-19 and suggests it is the legacy effect of past infection - rather than active COVID-19 - that is making patients more susceptible to complications causing death. The conclusion is in keeping with data showing high excess deaths nationally in the years since the pandemic.
Upcoming changes to continuing professional development for surgeons as well as to Australian clinical quality registries (CQRs) are highlighted in the report by WAASM Clinical Director, Dr James Aitken.
RACS, via its Australian and New Zealand Audit of Surgical Mortality (ANZASM), is working with Health Departments to ensure full and timely reporting of surgical deaths and complete surgeon compliance with audit requirements. Dr Aitken emphasised the importance of fast and detailed reporting for surgical safety and quality.
"If there is a single, unifying theme in these upcoming developments, it is the requirement for CQRs, of which WAASM is one, to have near complete identification of cases, associated with near real-time data collection, and more frequent and prompt reporting. There is a worldwide shift away from static reports, normally presented annually, towards real-time longitudinal reports using statistical process control (SPC) charts. These enable early recognition, and thus correction, of problems as they occur".
Unlike many Australian CQRs, WAASM captures almost all surgical mortality cases and meets the recommended 95% standard for collection of relevant data.
Dr Aitken noted that WAASM has explored the use of SPC charts in this latest report, and these demonstrate the great value of such reporting for surgeons, hospitals and Health Departments.
