Foreword
Cardiac Surgery 2021 Snapshot
352 175 49% 67
I am pleased to present the Cardiac Surgery Annual Report for 2021. This is the second such report that has been produced by the Surgical Education Research & Training (SERT) Institute and the Data Analysis and Surgical Outcomes (DASO) Unit for Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH). In 2021, our delivery of cardiac surgical cases was significantly disrupted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which saw restrictions on elective surgery. The impact on our department and our hospital has been unprecedented in the history of modern cardiac surgery. However, this impact was somewhat alleviated by using services generously provided by North Shore Private Hospital. The small number of cases performed in the private hospital are not included in this report. The quality of the work within our department at RNSH remains high and is reflected in the excellent outcomes published here. None of this is possible without the dedication and commitment of our theatre, intensive care unit (ICU) and ward staff, who contribute so much to these outcomes. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the outstanding work of all the ICU nurses at RNSH. They, more than any group, have felt the impact of COVID-19 on their working conditions. It is widely recognised that one of the best tools available to improve patient outcomes and encourage excellence in surgery is to ensure data is collected, analysed and reported. Since being introduced at the RNSH Cardiothoracic Surgery Department in 2019, the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) platform has resulted in significant improvements in data management, data validity, reporting and timely follow-up with patients, as evident in our unit-specific Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs).
Total cardiac surgery cases RNSH has been contributing to the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS) cardiac surgery database program since 2009 and in 2021, a total of 352 cases performed at RNSH met the ANZSCTS cardiac surgery database inclusion criteria. Emergency procedures performed In 2021, the team performed a total of 175 urgent/emergency procedures, accounting for just under 50% of the total workload.
In 2021, the database was again managed by our dedicated Data Manager (DM), Sharon Lum. The data is entered by the cardiothoracic surgery registrars to ensure clinical accuracy and to enable a 30-day patient follow-up by the department Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS). The establishment of the SERT Institute and DASO Unit within the Division of Surgery and Anaesthesia at RNSH has continued to give surgeons ownership, responsibility, and the ability to use data to improve services. I commend this report to you and would like to thank our registrars, Susan Campbell (CNS) and Sharon Lum (DM), for their contributions.
Coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG) CABG surgery is the Australian and New Zealand standard procedure for benchmarking against all cardiothoracic surgery units. In 2021, isolated CABG surgery continued to be the highest volume cardiac procedure type at RNSH with 171 cases (49%).
Elective cardiac surgery cases performed at North Shore Private Hospital due to COVID-19
Dr Michael Harden Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery, RNSH
A total of 67 RNSH elective cardiac surgery cases took place at North Shore Private Hospital in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Cardiac Surgery Annual Report 2021
Cardiac Surgery Annual Report 2021
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