I have now been a consultant in Leeds for sixteen years and have past the three thousand milestone. I am pleased to inform you that my overall mortality is 2.6% – cardiology colleagues attest to the fact that I am not risk averse. This has been achieve with a stroke rate of less than 0.5%.
We are entering an era where the patient is looking beyond mortality as a marker of good practice. I am delighted to inform you that there have been only two wounds problems out of more than 1500 sternal wound closures since I introduced a wound care bundle in 2009. I have presented these results nationally and internationally. The nursing staff can now spot my patients looking at the scar.
I have been running a ‘fit to admit’ process since 2003 and have realised significant clinical and operational benefits that I have published in peer review journals. Ninety five percent of my elective coronary artery bypass patients go home by day five post op and many of those have elected to go home on the evening of day four. My readmissions rates are some of the lowest on the country.