Monitoring surgical mortality

Scottish scheme has worked well but may not be transferable to other settings

Should surgical mortality be routinely monitored? In this issue Thompson and Stonebridge present a compelling argument for systematic audits (p 1139)1 and Esmail, in the first part of a new series on the General Medical Council and revalidation, argues that doctors will have nothing to fear from the GMC's revised plans (p 1144).2

The Scottish Audit of Surgical Mortality is a voluntary, peer reviewed, critical event analysis that has become an established part of standard surgical practice in Scotland. Scottish surgeons have shown tremendous support for the programme—99% of surgeons participate and 91% of deaths under surgical care in Scotland are audited. They support the scheme perhaps because …