What's New in SICSAG? Quality Indicators Ten quality indicators for Critical Care have been agreed and SICSAG will begin reporting on these in January 2012. Please click here to view the most recent document or contact angela.khan@nhs.net if you would like more information What is SICSAG? The Scottish Intensive Care Society Audit Group (SICSAG) has maintained a national database of patients admitted to adult general Intensive Care Units (ICU) in Scotland since 1995. Detailed information is produced on the management of critically ill or injured patients. All Intensive Care Units and combined ICU/High Dependency Units (HDU) collect data and the audit has further expanded to include many High Dependency Units. Participating units Aims and Objectives Aim To improve the care of ICU AND HDU patients by systematic, comprehensive audit of their management and outcome. Objectives     To establish and maintain a high quality, validated national dataset           To identify specific aspects of care that would benefit from rapid-cycle audit.     To identify evidence based standards and monitor compliance                   To undertake timely, accurate reporting of results           To ensure that analysis of variance is conducted in a timely, objective manner and that         appropriate action is taken.    To support staff to use the data effectively at a local level     To collaborate with other agencies to develop quality improvement initiatives     To encourage secondary data use to aid research and practice development Data Collection Information is collected by clinical staff in participating units on every patient. SICSAG collects a core data set including demographics, interventions, severity of illness, diagnosis and outcomes (with case-mix adjusted methodology). High Dependency Units collect a smaller data set. The system used to collect data (WardWatcher), also allows collection of further data that is specified at a local level. Clinical support is vital for the success of the audit. Joining the National Audit Team In October 2006, SICSAG joined Information Services Division (ISD), part of National Services Scotland (NSS).  Joining ISD has seen the audit benefiting from a significant increase in resources, with a dedicated SICSAG team, clinical support across Scotland from the National Audit Team and IT support from ISD. Key Priorities Our main priority in 2010/11 is to ensure data is used effectively to enable improvement in service provision and quality in Critical Care Units across Scotland.    Ongoing data validation to ensure accuracy    Monthly reports to both ICU and HDU    Introduction of rapid-cycle audit to review implementation of Nationally agreed standards (2011) Current update on the WardWatcher Sub-group activity Current update on the Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) Sub-group activity Reports Audit of Critical Care in Scotland 2011, reporting on 2010, is published on the 30th August 2011. Downloads from the Audit of Critical Care in Scotland 2011, reporting on 2010 are available here. Monthly ‘Real time’ reports ICU reports started in January 2009. HDU reports started in May 2010 reporting on January's data. Bed Bureau Bed bureau, an important resource for clinical staff in Critical Care, has been contracted to ATOS origin, which offers a 24-hour support. Presentations from the Annual Conference are available here held on 29th & 30th Sept 2011 Stirling Management Centre, University of Stirling