JULIE GILLSON and GAIL LOWDON provide an insight into how the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust reduced its infection rate within the orthopaedic department and developed a robust surgical site infection surveillance service.
In April 2004, after a number of years of voluntary monitoring, the Chief Medical Officer, made the surveillance of surgical site infection (SSI) in orthopaedic surgery mandatory.1 There were certain criteria which included a minimum of three months data collection in at least one of the four orthopaedic categories.
• Total hip replacement (THR).
• Total Knee replacement (TKR).
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