National Minimum Data Set for trauma

A National Minimum Data Set (NMDS) for major trauma is a set of data elements agreed for mandatory collection and reporting at a national level.

Why is this important? 

A national dataset on all major trauma patients in New Zealand provides a consistent and comprehensive description of severely injured patients in New Zealand. The availability of consistent, accurate and timely data is a key initiative of this work to provide:

• Measures for trauma quality improvement,
• Trauma systems performance
• Risk-adjusted bench marking
• A valuable resource for research to build an understanding of trauma and ultimately improve patient outcomes

Please read the National Minimum Dataset (for major trauma) for details on the specific data we collect, and enter in the registry. 

Inclusions and exclusions: 

As the basis of the data submitted into the registry, we define major trauma as:

• Death following trauma that’s principally due to the injuries sustained, with a focus on in-hospital mortality
• A patient with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) greater than 12 (AIS 2005 with 2008 updates)

We have specifically excluded the following trauma events from this definition

• Patients with delayed admissions more than 7 days after injury
• Poisoning or drug ingestion that do not cause injury
• Foreign bodies that do not cause injury
• Injuries secondary to medical procedures
• Isolated neck of femur fracture
• Pathology directly resulting in isolated injury (e.g. comorbidity requiring anticoagulation and a subdural haematoma without a clear history of a fall in less than 7 days prior to hospital admission)
• Elderly patients who die with superficial injury only (contusions, abrasions, or lacerations) and/or have co-existing disease that precipitates injury or is precipitant to death (e.g. Stroke, Renal Failure, Heart Failure, Malignancy or Advanced Frailty). Advanced frailty is assessed as a score of 7, 8 or 9 on the Clinical Frailty Scale.
• Hangings
• Drownings

This dataset was determined with due consideration of the Bi-National Trauma Minimum Dataset (BNTMDS) for Australia and New Zealand, used for the Australian Trauma Registry. The BNTMDS has been endorsed by the Australians following a decade’s worth of consultation with trauma stakeholders in Australia and New Zealand. To ensure alignment and potential for future comparison and collaboration, the New Zealand minimum dataset is identical or similar to the BNTMDS where possible.

The data dictionary describes the fields to be collected from all hospitals across New Zealand that currently care for major trauma patients. The data set for each patient will be submitted by the final treating hospital, the definitive care hospital, to the NZTR at a national level. New Zealand hospitals are free to collect additional trauma data elements for hospital, DHB or regional purposes, and are not restrained to the minimum data set described here. 

If you had any questions regarding the Trauma registry get in touch with us.