Surgical site infection improvement programme (SSIIP)

Surgical site infections (SSIs) can cause emotional and financial stress, serious illness, longer hospital stays, long-term disabilities and even the loss of life. The good news is that a significant number of SSIs are preventable.

The Te Tāhū Hauora Surgical Site Infection Improvement (SSII) programme has developed and implemented a consistent, evidence-based approach for collecting and reporting high quality data about SSIs for orthopedic (hip and knee) and cardiac surgery.

The SSII programme measures antibiotic timing, antibiotic dosing, skin antisepsis and surgical site infection rates for cardiac and orthopaedic (hip and knee arthroplasty) surgery.

The SSII programme dashboard results are updated quarterly.

• National cardiac dashboard
• National orthopaedic dashboard
• Orthopaedic variable life-adjusted display (VLAD) report
• Quality and safety markers (select quarter from left-hand column) 

The programme promotes and encourages culture change and provides guidance on practice improvements that reduce SSIs. Information about these areas is available below.