The National Cardiac Registry (NCR) is a Clinical Quality Registry established to record information on cardiac procedures and devices in order to harness insights to drive better outcomes for all Australians.
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in Australia. In 2018, an average of 2 people died of CHD each hour. This equates to 48 Australians dying every single day. It is the leading cause of death in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples accounting for 390 deaths in 2018 (12.1% of all deaths) across the community. The Commonwealth Department of Health and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care have prioritised the establishment of a cardiac Clinical Quality Registry (CQR). CQRs monitor the quality (appropriateness and effectiveness) of health care by routinely collecting, analysing and reporting health related information.
Successful treatment of CHD is dependent upon a highly organised and functional health care system together with skilled clinicians operating at all junctures across the continuum of care. This includes timely diagnosis and transportation during the pre-hospital phase; efficient management in the emergency department; a high-level of technical skill from the clinicians responsible for restoring blood flow; and effective patient centric after-care and management. The NCR will capture data along the continuum in order to identify outcome variance and areas for improvement in the quality of cardiac health care across Australia.