Publication of Surgeon Outcomes FAQs

Which surgeons are in scope for the initiative?

All orthopaedic consultant surgeons who had one or more NHS-funded hip, knee, ankle, elbow or shoulder replacement procedure recorded in the relevant year in England as Consultant in charge. 
Other surgeons with data in this NJR for the relevant period, for example those outside of England or who haven’t undertaken NHS procedures, can ‘opt in’ if they would like to be included. Further information on doing this is available in the NJR’s clinician feedback or from the NJR team.
 

What about surgeons with very low numbers of procedures?

Surgeons with less than five procedures will appear on the website but will have numbers masked in accordance with the ONS small numbers policy – in this case, numbers will be displayed as ‘<5’.

What about surgeons who are new as consultant in charge?

In 2014, an indicator showing time passed since first procedure submitted as Consultant in charge was included on the activity profile for the first time.
 

What about surgeons who operate on private healthcare patients?

For surgeons who have undertaken both private and NHS-funded practice (including NHS ‘Choose and Book’ in a private practice setting), their total practice as ‘Consultant in Charge’ will be included in the analysis. All the hospitals in which they work will be listed. The volumes of NHS and private practice will not be disclosed; only a total volume will be published.

Consultants who solely work in private practice with no NHS-funded patients are not in scope for this initiative. However, they are able to opt-in to publication of their data if they wish through the NJR Clinician Feedback system.
 

How can I check my data?

The BOA encourages all surgeons to check the data held against their name on the NJR. The NJR Clinician Feedback reports and interface are designed to help you with this. If you need help using these, you have further questions or you identify errors in your data, please contact the Regional Coordinator for your area or the NJR Service desk ([email protected]).