Developments
 

Developments

In June 2018, the NJR went live with the latest version of the dataset, Minimum Dataset Version 7 (MDSv7), which represented a number of significant changes to the data collection.

A series of minor updates were made to MDSv7 in March 2020 as detailed below:

Robotic Surgery: Given that there has been an increase in the use of robots in joint replacement surgery, this practice now needs to be formally recorded in the NJR.  For both the hip and knee primary forms (H1 and K1), a new field: ‘Robotic surgery used?’ has been included.  If ‘Yes’ is selected, it is necessary to select the robot name from a drop down list.

Email address and mobile phone number: As part of an NJR pilot of collecting Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) for patients who have had a joint replacement, people will be contacted to invite them to participate in completing a questionnaire. To enable the NJR to conduct this feedback exercise it is necessary to collect patient contact information and the new NJR Consent Form and data entry system will include fields for both patient email address and mobile phone number. A patient can still consent to inclusion in the NJR even if they choose not to share their contact details.
 
Consultee Consent: A requirement has been placed on the NJR to record those instances where a third party, or ‘Consultee’, has recorded either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ for consent.  This is for cases where a patient is admitted as an emergency or for where the patient lacks the mental capacity to provide informed consent.  The Consultee may be a family member, guardian, carer, or clinician not directly involved in the care of the patient.  Most hospitals will have designated staff who can consent on behalf of patients.

During this current financial year, initial planning will commence for the next major update to the NJR MDS. Clinical teams who submit NJR data from their hospitals are encouraged to share any suggestions for improvements. Any suggestions can be submitted to your Regional Clinical Coordinator or to njr@njr.org.uk