A benchmark too far: findings from a national survey of surgical site infection surveillance (17 January 2013)

Summary

The national surgical site infection (SSI) surveillance service in England collates and publishes SSI rates that are used for benchmarking and to identify the prevalence of SSIs. However, research studies using high-quality SSI surveillance report rates that are much higher than those published by the national surveillance service. This variance questions the validity of data collected through the national service.

The aim of this study from Tanner et al. was to audit SSI definitions and data collection methods used by hospital trusts in England.