Personalised feedback from the Scottish Audit of Surgical Mortality

Over the last 10 years, the Scottish Audit of Surgical Mortality has become established as a leading activity in the evaluation of patients who die in association with surgical care. Its successive findings have provided reassurance that surgical care in Scotland is safe, and getting safer. Findings from the audit have promoted advances both in facilities and for patient care. The adoption on an international scale by Australian states is a clear mark of its stature.

So far, in the annual reports data have been analysed only at the level of the specialty, leading to questions about the value of such aggregated information to the individual surgeon. To respond to this, the SASM team therefore have developed a report to provide to each participating consultant. The report will provide information about patients identified as having been under the care of that consultant, set in the context of local and national data. The specimen report which is enclosed is based on general/vascular surgery deaths reported to SASM. It is planned to introduce specialty specific individual reports progressively during the first half of 2005.

Before "going live" with reports based upon the 2003 data, it was clearly important to give participants an opportunity to provide feedback on the report. An example of the intended format, containing individualised data for one consultant is enclosed. We would be very grateful if you would review the report and provide us with feedback, using the enclosed questionnaire.

In addition to the intrinsic interest of the information, provision in this way to each consultant will enable demonstration, in the context of appraisal and revalidation, of participation in an audit and hence compliance is one of the major criteria in good medical practice. Recent communications from the General Medical Council indicate that information upon which revalidation is to be based will require to be capable of verification and quality assurance. The individualised SASM report will fulfil these criteria.

Professor Graham M Teasdale Chairman, SASM Board and President, Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Glasgow