As part of the Trust's continuous commitment to quality improvement work, we participate in the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit (NELA). This is a national clinical audit programme which looks at how hospitals are treating patients who need emergency abdominal surgery, and the outcomes of those patients.
This independent assessment provides the Trust with important data to measure how well we are doing in terms of delivering on our mission to provide safe, compassionate and joined-up care to all our patients.
The 4th NELA report has now been published and the results for #TeamCDDFT are very positive.
The audit collects information about the care patients received whilst they are in hospital. This includes information about the investigations and treatment received, how long it took for different parts of treatment to be given, and whether a patient went to a critical care bed after surgery.
The Trust also performed particularly well, at University Hospital of North Durham, on the number of patients over 70 receiving an assessment by a care of the older person specialist. The national mean was 22.9% while 97% of patients at UHND received the assessment. Andrew Deane, one of the Trust's consultants in geriatric medicine, has been recognised nationally for his work in this area.
Jeremy Cundall, Executive Medical Director said: "As an organisation we should be proud of the latest results from the NELA. They demonstrate the high quality care we are providing to our patients, who need this type of surgery, across County Durham and Darlington. In many areas our performance is considerably better than the national average. This is the result of much hard work and commitment from the surgical teams and those supporting them. There are some areas which require further focus to drive up improvements and we will not become complacent but ensure that we are working to not just maintain these high standards but continue this upwards trend. My thanks and congratulations go to all the #TeamCDDFT colleagues involved - keep up the good work!"
Ends
Published 11th Feb 2019
'I would like to thank all the staff for my treatment and their professionalism.'
Patient, Cardiology Department, Bishop Auckland Hospital