Audit & Research

Audit is only as good as the quality (specific questions), and the quantity (number of responses) of feedback submissions.

If you are a surgeon performing Surgery in Primary Care, whether that be vasectomies, any level of skin surgery, carpal tunnel decompression and/or other hand surgery, or other procedures that are performed under LA, then you should be collecting and collate a yearly audit on both patient complications and their experience.

Why undertake audit?

Audit is the bedrock from which any surgical association can increase their standing and credence in the local or wider surgical community, especially in respect to the sometimes skeptical secondary care surgical community.

For how else can you prove that Surgery undertaken in the Community offers as good (if not better), a more cost-effective service, and a significantly more positive patient experience when compared to Hospital based procedures if not than by AUDIT?

Audit thus….

  • Ticks the boxes for your ICB /commissioners
  • Needed for Appraisal, Reaccreditation and Revalidation
  • Help you win contracts! 
  • Feedback that can give confidence to the patient
  • Confidence to the Surgeon
  • Protection from superfluous claims 
  • Loads of positive feedback (hopefully!) giving the surgeon an instant feel-good factor
  • Self-Improvement - BE THE BEST YOU CAN

For how else do you know if you need to improve your service other than reflecting on your audit results?

 
ASPC Questionnaires

We now have official ASPC questionnaires for 

  • Vasectomies
  • Carpel Tunnel decompressions 
  • Skin surgery

The ASPC Vasectomy audit is possibly the largest patient’s experience audit for ANY surgical procedure in the UK, whilst our Carpel Tunnel Decompression audit is (we believe) the largest audit for that specific procedure in the UK.

Every year the ASPC request the audit data collected by your clinic in respect to each of the 3 surgical procedures above and compile all these audit data to produce a spreadsheet showing both your audit figures, and everyone else’s. Meaning you see not only how you are performing, but how you are performing compared to other service providers.

Collection tools

The ASPC offers you already formatted collection tools such as SurveyMonkey, specific tailored Excel sheets, and Microsoft Forms for you to collect, collate and then present your data. 

SurveyMonkey is our main tool of collection at present for the vasectomy, though Microsoft Forms has its own advantages, and both are free to use by becoming an ASPC member.

For Carpal Tunnel decompression and the Skin Surgery audits, whilst SurveyMonkey can be used, the ASPC have specially developed Excel sheets to collate and your Audit results.

For more details, please visit the Audits Documents  in the membership only area of the website, then open the Audit Information folder, where you can access the document: ASPC Questionnaires Overview

Plus, expanded information about each of these 3 questionnaires:

- Vasectomies: ASPC Vasectomy Audit Questionnaires Overview 
 
- Carpel Tunnel decompressions ASPC CTS Audit Questionnaires Overview
 
- Skin surgery: ASPC Skin Surgery Audit Questionnaires Overview 

All the latest versions for all 3 procedures Questionnaires can be found in the member’s area of the ASPC Website in their respective Audit years folder.

Otherwise, should you want any further information regarding anything related to Audit please contact Ashleigh for more details: Audits@ASPC-uk.net  

Our audit data, gathered from ASPC members through their annual submissions over the years, has contributed to a growing number of publications.

You can find brief overviews of these published papers on the Publications page in the ABOUT section. 

Full articles (and abstracts) are available to members in the Members-only area under ASPC Publications.
  • ASPC Carpal Tunnel Decompressions Surgery Audit

    • We have finalised the questionnaires and process for undertaking a member wide, on-going Patient Reported Outcome Measure (PROM) survey for all hand surgery being undertaken.

      This uses the validated Patient Evaluation Measure (PEM) part 2 tool, which has been validated for all hand surgery.

      We have dispensed with the PEM part’s 1 and 3, and instead have asked the questions we feel relevant to the patients experience and any complications.

      It is very easy for patients to complete and for you and your staff to record the results.

      There are 3 questionnaires, one pre-op, one on the day (including the requisite ‘Friends and Family’) and one 3 months post-op.

      The audit cycle runs for 12 months covering the periods 1st Jan until 31st Dec, for presentation at the following years Conference

      Details how to collate the scores will be sent out to all members.

      Gareth James, Audit lead for ASPC Gtbvas@Yahoo.co.uk

  • ASPC Vasectomy Audits

    • We offer two standardised questionnaires for vasectomy – both of which have been officially endorsed by the FSRH and can be accessed in the members Area

      To set up as an audit data contributor, please email Gareth James, Audit Lead for ASPC at the following address - Gtbvas@Yahoo.co.uk

      Once you start contributing to the audit, you will also be able to gain access to national audit results.

      Here are some tips for audit data collection from Gareth James, Audit Lead for ASPC:

      Audit is only as good as the quality (asking SPECIFIC questions) and the quantity (number of feedback submissions) of the questions asked….

      What do we want to specifically ask the patients?

      Did you experience any:

      a) Infection – Who gave the antibiotics? What reason?
      b) Swelling – How big? Was it painful, how long for?
      c) Pain – How long, how bad, have you still got any?
      d) Experience – Before, during, after…


      The ASPC now uses two 2 different questionnaires

      1) On-The-Day Questionnaire – Directly after the operation, before they leave the Clinic

      This gives you quantifiable data focusing on the patients experience of the operation, doctors’ competence and manner, the operative environment, leading up to, and including the operation itself. Good for your commissioning body / CCG

      2) The Post-Operative Questionnaire – asked usually between 1 to 4 months after their vasectomy (often sent with reminders to undertake tests, or with letter confirming test results)

      This is your MAIN provider of audit data for complication rates, and provide a lot of information for learning feedback for your whole vasectomy service.


      The audit cycle runs for 12 months covering the periods 1st April until 31st March, for presentation at the following years ASPC Conference

      Details how to collate the scores are sent out to all members.

      For the latest audit documentation please login to our members area.

  • ASPC Skin Surgery Audit

    • This set of questionnaires offers surgeons and clinics a more patient centered set of questionnaires focusing more on the patients experience and their personal outcomes/complications.

      It is very easy for patients to complete and for you and your staff to record the results.

      There are 2 questionnaires, one on the day (including the requisite ‘Friends and Family’) and one post operation questionnaire

      The audit cycle runs for 12 months covering the periods 1st  Jan until 31st  Dec, for presentation at the following years Conference

      Details how to collate the scores are sent out to all members.