An NHS surgery team in Hartlepool has been recognised as the gold standard for the care given to its patients.
The service at the University Hospital of Hartlepool has been highlighted as gold level by the National Joint Registry in its Quality Data Provider Awards.
The three-tier awards – gold, silver and bronze – is based on the monitoring of performance of hip, knee, ankle, elbow and shoulder joint replacement procedures.
It helps improve clinical outcomes for the benefit of patients as well as supporting and giving feedback to orthopaedic clinicians and industry manufacturers.
The registry collects orthopaedic data in order to provide evidence to support patient safety, standards in quality of care, and overall value in joint replacement surgery.
The Hartlepool hospital site, run by North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, is the organisation’s centre for planned, non-urgent elective care.
It was previously awarded the silver standard before improving its position to gold.
Thanks to dedication of whole service
Linda Wildberg, clinical quality and data management lead, said: “This is fantastic news for the service and shows the outstanding care we provide to our patients.
“Patients need to know that when they come in for an operation that we are taking every step to ensure they are safe.
“This gold level standard recognises this service as being among the very best.
“It is a sign of the dedication of the whole service, from the teams who see patients before their operation, to the surgery team and then staff who carry out the follow up care and who collate the data afterwards.”
The centre was awarded elective hub status last year by NHS England – meaning it could increase capacity and give patients quicker access to non-urgent operations.
This includes orthopaedic operations such as hip and knee replacements as well as gynaecology, surgical and breast procedures.
Full details about the NJR’s Quality Data Provider certificate scheme can be found by visiting the National Joint Registry.