NHS Borders reports improvements in surgical site infection rates

Health Protection Scotland has today released the Surveillance of Surgical Site Infection Annual Report 2014.

In common with all other health boards in Scotland, NHS Borders must report on the number of surgical site infections (SSIs) that occur after hip arthroplasty procedures and after caesarean section procedures.

The report shows that in 2014, NHS Borders SSI rate for hip arthroplasty was 1.87% and for caesarean section procedures was 1.18% - both within the parameters set by Health Protection Scotland (HPS).

Furthermore, NHS Borders infection surveillance data for the first half of 2015 (January - June) shows an SSI rate of 0.63% for hip procedures and 1.39% for caesarean sections, demonstrating an improvement to date on our rates from last year, and both below the national average rates for 2014.

Commenting on the statistics, Mr Ali Mehdi, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon and Head of Service, Orthopaedic Department at NHS Borders said:

"Patient safety is paramount. Every incident of surgical site infection is investigated and appropriate action is taken to ensure that we learn from our findings.

"Through this work, we have almost eliminated incidence of infection following hip replacement surgery and it is encouraging that these statistics reflect our focus on continued improvement in this area.

"We look forward to maintaining these standards".