The National Orthopaedic Alliance has welcomed news that the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) team has launched a Medical Devices Safety Programme (MDSP) to improve medical device safety for patients. The clinically-led partnership will see the GIRFT programme working with other NHS organisations to enable better use of technology to improve patient safety in the use of medical devices.
Following early discovery work, the MDSP will be established to:
- accelerate the adoption of digital technology to improve the tracking and monitoring of medical devices in real time
- establish a new information system and associated infrastructure to collect, link and analyse outcomes by procedure, including details of any medical devices or implants used, and the clinicians involved
- analyse outcomes data to drive improvements in patient care and safety
Following an announcement by health minister Nadine Dorries MP, GIRFT will lead on developing outcome registries for all relevant specialties, utilising in particular data from the Medical Devices Information System (hosted by NHS Digital) and Scan4Safety.The work will build on the experience of exemplar registries like the National Joint Registry (NJR) and clinical data evaluation groups such as Orthopaedic Device Evaluation Panel (ODEP) and Beyond Compliance in orthopaedics, which have already demonstrated the ability to avoid patient harm, improve outcomes and reduce re-intervention.
NOA Deputy Director, Ann Hoey said, “I’m delighted that GIRFT is at the heart of this programme to improve medical device safety for patients. It’s great news for clinicians and patients that the work already taking place in orthopaedics in this area will be rolled out across other specialties –.”
Read more about the programme and view a launch webinar on the GIRFT website here.