Perioperative Quality Improvement Programme (PQIP)

PQIP is a national research and quality improvement initiative to improve care along the perioperative pathway

The Perioperative Quality Improvement Programme (PQIP) measures complications, mortality and patient reported outcome from major non-cardiac surgery. The ambition is to deliver real benefits to patients by supporting clinicians in using data to improve patient outcomes across the UK, reducing variation in processes of care and supporting implementation of best practice. 

PQIP Logo Web Strip

Current News

  • Join us at the next PQIP webinar focusing on pain management. To register please click this link.
  • We recently launched the 4th PQIP Annual Report. Find a link at the bottom of this page.

Around 10 million operations are performed in the NHS each year. What happens to these patients? What are the complication rates? What is patient recovery like? Are we providing a good service? These are some of the questions that the Perioperative Quality Improvement Programme (PQIP) wants to answer.

PQIP collects and analyses data on the perioperative care of patients undergoing major non-cardiac surgery and measures complication rates, failure to rescue and patient reported outcomes. To achieve this multidisciplinary involvement is absolutely vital – nurses, surgeons, anaesthetists, managers and patients all working together.

PQIP publications and reports

PQIP releases a range of reports on the data we collect. Annual Reports are published once per year.  Participating hospitals are provided with a live dashboard of their results along with quarterly and annual reports. These reports are customised to meet the interests of different professional groups – surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and managers.

If you do not have a login for the webtool but would like to request one in order to see your local data, please contact PQIP.

PQIP Pilot Brochure

PQIP Pilot Brochure

Introduction to the PQIP pilot programme, published in April 2015

PQIP Annual Report 2017-18

Report from the first year of PQIP data collection, published April 2018

PQIP Annual Report 2018-19

Report from the second year of PQIP data collection, published September 2019

PQIP Annual Report 2019-21

Report from the third year of PQIP data collection, published July 2021

PQIP Annual Report 2021-23

Report from the fourth year of PQIP data collection, published July 2023

Using data to drive improvement

PQIP measures complications, mortality and patient reported outcome from major non-cardiac surgery. The ambition is to deliver real benefits to patients by supporting clinicians in using data for improvement. 

We assist hospitals in the interpretation, distribution and use of their results to help local teams can get the most out of their data. We have provided quality improvement tools and instructional videos on our website and encourage and support local investigators to use their results to lead their own local quality improvement project and research. 

Click here for a full playlist of PQIP quality improvement videos.

Collaborators

PQIP is delivered by the NIAA Health Services Research Centre, working on behalf of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and a broad range of stakeholders, aimed at improving patient outcomes from major surgery.

The programme is supported by the Health Foundation, who are funding research which will develop our understanding of the barriers and enablers to quality improvement at local level.

PQIP is a truly multidisciplinary initiative, and we have support from surgeons, critical care, allied health professionals, and patient groups. We plan to up-scale PQIP to cover most, if not all, NHS hospitals offering non-cardiac surgery over the next 5 years.

There are now over 140 hospitals participating in PQIP. For the latest news on the project and information on how to get involved, please visit the PQIP website.