Healthcare Data Sources

We want to help patients and their GPs make informed choices when it comes to healthcare. We also want to show you the quality of the care we provide at Spire Healthcare. We were the first private hospital provider to publish clinical performance and patient reported outcomes on our website, including information on our rates of MRSA blood infection and Clostridium Difficile infection. This is just one part of our programme to improve our already high standards of clinical quality and safety.

We were the first private hospital provider to publish clinical performance and patient reported outcomes on our website.

All Spire Healthcare hospitals have been registered with the Healthcare Commission (now the Care Quality Commission) and are required to meet the rigorous standards they set for independent hospitals. The standards include the quality and safety of treatment, cleanliness of the hospitals, staff recruitment and training and information available to patients.

Health Improvement

Before you have you your treatment with us, we may ask you to complete a survey about your general health, any pain you may have and how this limits your everyday activities. A few months following your surgery, we may then ask you to answer the same questions again. The results are then analysed and used to calculate the improvement in your health rating as a result of your treatment. This is known as a Patient Reported Outcome Measure (PROMS). PROMS can be used as a guide to help you choose where you would like to receive treatment. They are also used to monitor and improve the quality of services our hospitals provide.

Sources:
Spire data is for the calendar year 2008.
Normal population benchmarks for Hernia Repair and Cholecystectomy (Gall Bladder Surgery are calculated from the Health of the Nation survey 1996 and include responses from age groups 16 +.
Normal population benchmarks for Hysterectomy are calculated from the Health of the Nation survey 1996 and include responses from women aged between 45 and 64.

Patient Satisfaction

We publish patient satisfaction rates for the following measures:

- Dignity and respect
- Hospital cleanliness
- Pain Control
- Confidence and trust in nursing staff
- Patient involvement in decision making

We also show the percentage of patients who would recommend the hospital to their family and friends following their treatment.

If you have any questions or would like more detailed information, please contact the relevant hospital director, or complete an online enquiry form.

Sources:
Results for % patients who would recommend this hospital to others are taken from the Spire Healthcare patient survey 2008.
Spire Healthcare results for the remaining questions are taken from the Spire Healthcare (Inpatient and Daycase) Survey of NHS patients June and August 2008.
NHS results are taken from the NHS Inpatient and Daycase Survey 2007.

MRSA Blood Infections

MRSA is a type of bacteria that is resistant to some antibiotics. A healthy person can carry MRSA on their skin and it won't harm them. But if MRSA gets into the blood stream of a weaker person, perhaps if they have had surgery or are recovering from an illness, it can cause infection.

MRSA can be treated with a range of different antibiotics in line with the national UK guidelines.
The rate of MRSA infection is measured in a standard way across all UK hospitals. It is measured by dividing the number of cases of MRSA blood infection by the total number of days that all of our patients have been in hospital, called the number of bed days.

Sources:
Spire data is for the calendar year 2008 unless otherwise stated.
UK Private Hospitals (average): Independent Healthcare Advisory Services; IHAS England Summary (April 2006 - March 2007).
NHS Hospitals (average, estimated): Financial year annual reports and rates of MRSA bacteraemia, April 2007 - March 2008. This report is available on the HPA website.

C-Difficile Infections

Clostridium difficile is a type of bacteria that can cause severe and frequent diarrhoea, abdominal pain and fever. In some cases, it can cause a life-threatening inflammation of the bowel. This is known as Clostridium difficile associated disease or CDAD for short. In mild cases of CDAD, no specific treatment is required, although any antibiotic treatment may be changed or stopped. More severe cases require treatment with additional antibiotics.

The rate of CDAD infection is measured in a standard way across all our hospitals. It is measured by dividing the number of cases of CDAD by the total number of days that all of our patients have been in hospital (called the number of bed days).

Sources:
Spire data is for the calendar year 2008.
NHS Hospitals (average): Annual reports and rates for C.Difficle for patients aged 65 years and over (April 2007 - March 2008). This report is available from the HPA website.

Wound Infections

Hip and knee replacement operations are very common procedures and for most people the benefits are great. However, all surgery carries a risk of infection in the wound created by the operation and this is known as surgical site infection. Wound infections can be treated with dressings and/or antibiotics.

The rate of wound infection is measured by dividing the number of cases of infection by the number of hip or knee replacement operations completed by the hospital.

Sources:
Spire surgical site surveillance data is for 2008 and refers to Spire's overall wound infection rate. For more detailed information please ask your hospital.
UK Private Hospitals (average): Independent Healthcare Advisory Services; IHAS England Summary (April 2006 - March 2007).
NHS Hospitals average: Fourth Report of the Mandatory Surveillance of Surgical Site Infection in Orthopaedic Surgery April 2004 to March 2008. This report is available from the HPA website.

Returns to Theatre

A return to theatre is when a patient has surgery and needs to return to theatre for an unplanned procedure during the same stay at the hospital.

We measure the rate of returns to theatre in a standard way across all hospitals, by dividing the number of returns to theatre by the number of procedures we have performed.

Sources:
Spire data is for the calendar year 2008.
UK Private Hospitals (average): Independent Healthcare Advisory Services; IHAS England Summary (April 2006 - March 2007).

Unplanned Re-admissions

Occasionally, you may need to return for additional treatment following your stay in hospital. Although this is sometimes unavoidable, our good discharge planning and the clear health information we provide helps to minimise the likelihood of this occurring.

An unplanned re-admission is when a patient is re-admitted to the hospital within 31 days of being discharged. The reason for the second admission should be related to the first and will include an stay overnight on both occasions.

We calculate the rate of unplanned re-admissions by dividing the number of re-admissions by the number of patients we have discharged from the hospital.

Sources:
Spire data is for the calendar year 2008.
UK Private Hospitals (average): Independent Healthcare Advisory Services; IHAS England Summary (April 2006 - March 2007).

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...about our healthcare standards or the data presented on these pages, please contact your local Spire hospital director...

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