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Evidence-based orthopaedic trauma care in the United Kingdom: Guidelines, registries, carrots and sticks

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Abstract

In the United Kingdom (UK), orthopaedic trauma surgeons utilise evidence-based practice through distillation of high-quality primary research, interrogation of registries and implementation of evidence-based guidelines. Concurrent with this ambition of providing exemplar care based on robust patient centred research, there has evolved a culture of remuneration ‘by results’. Therefore, there is a drive for excellence combined with a system of collation and validation of data input as well as remuneration where care excels. There are several organisations involved in each stage of this process, the output of which has much that is pertinent to the globally similar consequences of physical injury. However, their relevance and impact within the UK is magnified as they are written against the backdrop of a unified healthcare system. In this article, we will describe the roles of the different organisations guiding and regulating trauma practice across the UK and discuss how the interplay of these impacts on clinical care.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, TS4 3BW, UK

    A. Griffiths, A. Egglestone & W. G. P. Eardley

  2. Darlington Memorial Hospital, Hollyhurst Rd, Darlington, DL3 6HX, UK

    J. Dixon

  3. Trauma Audit Research Network, Summerfield House, 544 Eccles New Road, Salford, M5 5AP, UK

    A. Edwards

  4. British Orthopaedic Association, 35-43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Holborn, WC2A 3PE, London, UK

    R. Handley

  5. St George’s University Hospital, Blackshaw Rd, Tooting, SW17 0QT, London, UK

    A. Trompeter

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  1. A. Griffiths
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  2. J. Dixon
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  3. A. Egglestone
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Correspondence to A. Griffiths.

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No benefits in any form have been or will be received from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this manuscript.

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A. Trompeter is Deputy Editor for EJOST.

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Griffiths, A., Dixon, J., Egglestone, A. et al. Evidence-based orthopaedic trauma care in the United Kingdom: Guidelines, registries, carrots and sticks. Eur J Orthop Surg Traumatol 31, 937–945 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-021-02954-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-021-02954-w

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