Audits of Surgical Mortality

Regional audits
National report
National case note review
ANZASM workshop at the 2011 ASC
Electronic platform - Fellows interface
Contact

The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons' Council is committed to a bi-national surgical mortality audit program that has been modelled on the successful Western Australian Audit of Surgical Mortality (WAASM).

The College fully encourages the audit program as it is fully owned by the surgeons with the understanding for the need to have partnerships with governments and other bodies.

According to the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons' Continuing Professional Development Manual, it is a "requirement to participate in the Australian and New Zealand Audit of Surgical Mortality if a surgeon is in operative based practice, has a surgical death and an audit of surgical mortality is available in the surgeon's hospital."

Participation as a first or second line assessor remains voluntary and is encouraged.

The Australian and New Zealand Audit of Surgical Mortality (ANZASM) Steering Committee is the amalgamation of the Australian state-based and New Zealand audits of surgical mortality.

The ANZASM formed to engage and progress the audit implementation in all regions. It provides a forum to support and guide the development of the audit in all states and New Zealand to ensure that both consistency and high standards are met.

The Chair, Professor Guy Maddern, is a senior College Councillor and a strong advocate of surgical audits. The Director is Associate Professor Wendy Babidge and the ANZASM Manager is Gordon Guy.

 Regional audits

ANZASM is comprised of the following regional audits:

Australian Capital Territory Audit of Surgical Mortality (ACTASM) - Karen Ramsden (Project Manager)
Northern Territory Audit of Surgical Mortality (NTASM) - Therese Rey-Conde (Project Manager)
Queensland Audit of Surgical Mortality (QASM) - Therese Rey-Conde (Project Manager)
South Australian Audit of Perioperative Mortality (SAAPM) - Kenneth Lang (Project Manager)
Tasmanian Audit of Surgical Mortality (TASM) - Lisa Lynch (Project Manager)
Victorian Audit of Surgical Mortality (VASM) - Claudia Retegan (Project Manager)
Western Australian Audit of Surgical Mortality (WAASM) - Diana Azzam (Project Manager)

The Collaborative Hospitals Audit of Surgical Mortality (CHASM) of NSW maintains membership within ANZASM, but is managed by the Clinical Excellence Commission.

National report

This report is based on the activities and outcomes since 2009. Aggregating information from multiple regions over time will allow identification of emerging trends in surgical care. The aim is to identify any system or process errors and develop strategies to redress these.

A limited number of printed copies of this report will be available by requesting a copy from your local audit office.    

ANZASM 2010 Annual Report (PDF 1.83 MB)
ANZASM 2010 Annual Report (eBook)
ANZASM 2009 Annual Report (PDF 743 KB)

National case note review booklet

The national case note review booklet is based on the case note reviews and its outcomes. The aim is to identify any system or process errors and develop strategies to redress these.

ANZASM national case note review booklet (members only)

A limited number of printed copies of this booklet will be available by requesting a copy from your local audit office.

ANZASM workshop at the 2011 ASC

The ANZASM workshop, held at the 2011 Annual Scientific Congress (ASC) in Adelaide, was based on some of the activities and findings stemming from the audits in the past year. 3 presentations were given and are available to download:

Consultant Supervision across the audit jurisdictions (PDF 745 KB)
Professor G Maddern, CHAIR, ANZASM

How to better complete a second-line assessment (PDF 745 KB)
Dr J North, Clinical Director, QASM

Correlations between second-line assessments in Victoria (PDF 2 MB)
Associate Professor C Russell, Clinical Director, VASM

Download the accompanying notes from the presentations (PDF 206 KB).

Aggregating information from multiple regions over time will allow identification of emerging trends in health care across the jurisdictions. The aim is to identify any system or process errors and develop strategies to redress these.

Electronic platform - Fellows interface

ANZASM now offers an electronic submissions platform called Fellows interface. The paper-based submission format is still current and available. The new interface allows Fellows to complete and transmit surgical case and first-line assessment forms securely online.

The Fellows interface is an "either/or option"; you can only use the online or paper system. If you wish to change from one to the other we will have to be notified to make the necessary changes.

The electronic option will not suit everybody yet. Those who wish to take up the online option will be sent access details, and user instructions - Fellows interface quick start guide (PDF 717 KB).

Please contact your local audit office for further details on submitting surgical case forms online.

Contact

All general enquiries can be directed to:
ANZASM Manager - Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
Research, Audit and Academic Surgery Division
199 Ward Street
North Adelaide SA 5006

Telephone: +61 8 8219 0900
Fax: +61 8 8219 0999
Email: Gordon.Guy@surgeons.org