30 day post-operative crude mortality

What this data shows:

Count of reported cases who died from any cause within 30 surgery days of major head and neck surgery

How the data is gathered:

Major head and neck surgery is generally a safe procedure with a low known mortality. 98.6 per cent of patients successfully survive surgical intervention (National Head and Neck Cancer Audit (DAHNO) 9th Annual report). However, many patients with head and neck cancer have other serious illnesses. Some patients may die shortly after their operation due to the complexity of surgery and complications from other conditions.

99.2% of cases having major surgery have been traced at the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and therefore have a confirmed life status and date of death where present.

There is no evidence in this report of significant variation in crude death rates between surgeons. Due to the low numbers of procedures per surgeon of these specific types of operations, and only very small numbers of deaths it is not possible to identify outliers both in terms of good or poor performance.

When the data is shown:

Where multiple surgeons have been involved in an operation, the outcome will be attributed to each of them. Where activity cannot be attributed to a surgeon, the outcome has been reported under the responsible trust only. Trust totals may not match those of their component surgeons.

More information about the data source:

Date of death has been collected by the National Head and Neck Cancer Audit (DAHNO) and supplemented by data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and thus confirms mortality.

Data Source:

Data collected from hospitals in England through the National Head and Neck Cancer Audit (DAHNO); Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES)

Data Period:

Annual

Data Supplier:

Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC); British Association of Head and Neck Oncologists (BAHNO).

Further Information:

Find out more about the National Head and Neck Cancer Audit