TRAUMA AND ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY Ann R Coll Surg Engl 2016; 98: 543–546 doi 10.1308/rcsann.2016.0315

Performance and learning curve of a surgical care practitioner in completing hip aspirations SJ Tingle1, A Marriott2, PF Partington2, I Carluke2, MR Reed2 1 2

Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK Trauma and Orthopaedics, Northumbria Healthcare, Ashington, Tyne and Wear, UK

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION

The roles of non-medically trained practitioners within the NHS are expanding; they are now being employed by many specialties, including surgery, to relieve pressures on healthcare teams. AIMS To investigate the learning curve and competence of an orthopaedic surgical care practitioner (SCP) in performing hip aspirations. METHODS Data were retrospectively collected on 510 orthopaedic hip aspirations, of which 360 were completed by a single SCP and 150 were completed by surgeons before the SCP took over routine aspiration. The 360 aspirations completed by an SCP were separated into groups of 30 by date, so any trend in failure rate could be analysed. Ordinal 2 analysis was used to analyse this trend and Pearson 2 analysis was used to analyse differences in failure rates between professionals. RESULTS The hip aspiration failure rate for the SCP was significantly lower than for the surgeons; 8.6% vs 20.7% (P

Performance and learning curve of a surgical care practitioner in completing hip aspirations.

INTRODUCTION The roles of non-medically trained practitioners within the NHS are expanding; they are now being employed by many specialties, including...
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