Why a registry?
Surgery is a major treatment for chronic subdural haematoma
A chronic subdural haematoma (cSDH) is a common condition in neurosurgery for older patients. It can be treated with surgery, but the expertise to perform this is concentrated in a small number (approximately 25) of hospitals across the country.
But care is split between hospitals
Because of this, the majority of patients who need surgery initially go to their local hospital. Work from the team behind this registry has shown that a huge amount of care before and after surgery is delivered in these local hospitals. However, understanding how this is performed and what happens to patients when they get there is difficult - as data is split between hospitals and cases are hard to identify using 'routinely' collected data.
Registries in other conditions have improved outcomes
A registry is a database of information relating to a particular condition. These platforms have provided information about how patients with other conditions (such as broken hips or strokes) are cared for, they provide clinicians and managers with the information they need to change how care is delivered and track improvements.
But can we do this for cSDH - where care is split between hospitals?
A major aim of this project is to see if we can collect the data needed for a registry from all of the hospitals a patient might be admitted to - the specialist hospital performing their surgery and the local hospital where they might be diagnosed or recover. We are creating networks of clinicians across referral networks to collect this data and help us understand how care is delivered and whether we can track ways to improve it in a meaningful way.
Why is this important?
When a specialist service (such as neurosurgery) is not available everywhere there is the potential for inequality in access or outcome. We want to understand if there is evidence in inequality in access to surgery or outcomes for cSDH. We will also collect long-term outcome data on those diagnosed with a cSDH. For further information see our 'How is the study designed?' page.