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Background
The collection of data to describe the nationwide practice of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the UK started with the inception of the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society (BCIS) in 1988. From 1988 to 1991 annual surveys of PCI activity were published in the British Heart Journal . 1-3 Annual reports from 1992 onwards are available for download from the society's website ( http://www.bcis.org.uk ), and summaries of some of the key data have been published as reports for distribution to participating hospitals and networks. 4-7 The initial data collection process was essentially a descriptive survey of activity. Over time the process has evolved becoming more sophisticated with electronic methods for data collection developed by the Central Cardiac Audit Database (CCAD) group. The methods were tested in 1996 as a pilot in selected hospitals, and full UK-wide participation in the electronic collection of PCI data was achieved by 2005.
Organisation and funding
The data collection and analysis process is led by the BCIS. The BCIS audit lead (an interventional cardiologist) has the main responsibility for this process. Clinical and professional oversight is provided by the BCIS Data Monitoring and Analysis Group. The audit lead also works closely with the CCAD group, which provides the computing hardware, software development and management tools that deal with the processes of data collection and storage. The audit lead and CCAD are also responsible for developing a number of analysis tools and audit reports that are described in more detail later.
The audit has been funded by central government via the Department of Health since the start. Currently, this funding is managed by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership, a government body whose aim is to increase the impact of clinical audit on the quality of care in England and Wales. 8 The costs of local data entry are borne by the participating hospitals.
From April 2011, six of the UK cardiac audits including BCIS have been brought together in the form of an organisation called the National Institute for Clinical Outcomes Research. This sits within the Cardiovascular Prevention and Outcomes Centre in the Institute for Cardiovascular Science based at University College London. It is planned that collaboration, with sharing of resources and cross-linking of datasets, will enhance the potential value...