If you have additional queries, please contact the NVR team on [email protected].
FAQs for Professionals
What is the NVR?
The NVR stands for the National Vascular Registry. It is a national clinical audit commissioned by the Health Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) to measure the quality of care for patients who undergo vascular surgery in NHS hospitals.
The NVR is part of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP). NCAPOP is a closely linked set of centrally-funded national clinical audits that collect data on compliance with evidence based standards, and provide local trusts with benchmarked reports on the compliance and performance. The NVR uses structure, process and outcome indicators to measure the quality of care received by patients undergoing vascular surgery.
What are the features of the NVR data collection system?
The NVR uses three sets of disease specific clinical datasets to capture details of the following five procedures:
- The repair of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA)
- Carotid endarterectomy
- Lower limb angioplasty/stenting, Lower limb bypass, and Lower limb amputation for Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD)
- Data is collected on each procedure in a way that follows the pathway of care.
- The save function available at all times will allow you to commence, stop and resumed data entry at any time.
- Each of the five procedures is clearly identifiable by specific colour coding. For example, the AAA form is green, while the carotid is orange.
- Online reports are available to help surgeons monitor the completeness of the data entered and the procedures that they have performed.
Who is running the NVR?
The NVR is managed by the Clinical Effectiveness Unit at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. It is run in partnership with the Vascular Society of Great Britain & Ireland (VSGBI) and the British Society of Interventional Radiology (BSIR).
Does my hospital have to participate?
The NHS assesses how care is delivered to patients using national clinical audits. The NHS standard contract requires that English NHS organisations providing care must participate in all relevant NCAPOP audits and enquiries. If providers do not participate in relevant NCAPOP audits, they will be in breach of their contract with their commissioner; therefore any non-participation would need to be agreed with the commissioner and CQC as the regulator.
Further information is available on the HQIP website.
Who can take part in the audit?
NHS hospitals in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are participating in the National Vascular Registry. Any NHS consultant or hospital that undertakes vascular surgery or interventional radiology in the UK is eligible to take part in the audit.
Where can I find the new upload file specifications, dataset and any other documents?
All supporting documents, to help you submit your data via the new NVR, can be found on the Resources section. These include:
- Proformas
- A data dictionary
- Upload file templates
These documents have been produced for the five NVR procedures performed. Additional information on the NVR IT system is also available.
Are there any limitations on the browser I use to access the NVR IT system?
The NVR IT system can be accessed using Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
FAQs for Public
What is the NVR?
The NVR is the National Vascular Registry. It is a national clinical audit commissioned by the Health Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) to measure the quality of care for patients who undergo vascular surgery in NHS hospitals, and was formed in January 2013.
The NVR is part of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP). There are a number of national clinical audits within NCAPOP. Each one collects data on the care received by different groups of patients and provides local NHS trusts with reports on their practice and performance.
What is clinical audit?
Clinical audit is a tool used by clinicians and other hospital staff to monitor the care given to patients. It produces information that helps hospitals to ensure patients receive the right treatment from the right person in the right way.
In a clinical audit, information on the care given to patients is collected and analysed to see whether hospitals are following clinical standards (such as those published by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)) and whether the outcomes of care are in line with those achieved by other hospitals.
Who is running the NVR?
The NVR is managed by the Clinical Effectiveness Unit at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. It is run in partnership with the Vascular Society of Great Britain & Ireland (VSGBI) and the British Society of Interventional Radiology (BSIR).
Who takes part in the audit?
NHS hospitals in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are participating in the National Vascular Registry. Any NHS consultant or hospital that undertakes vascular surgery or interventional radiology in the UK is eligible to take part in the audit.