Introduction
North of Scotland Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
About the unit
We provide adult cardiac and thoracic surgical services in the north of Scotland including Orkney and Shetland. Located at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary Foresterhill site, the unit also has satellite outpatient facilities at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee and Raigmore Hospital, Inverness.
Services provided
Adult Cardiac Surgery
Thoracic Surgery
Rehabilitation and follow up
6-8 weeks postoperatively
Access
Buses run frequently from city centre and station. Car parks (charges apply) are provided for patients and visitors. The unit is located in ARI Phase 2; the Cardiac ICU is on the lower ground, the Ward and High Dependency Unit on the 5th – wards 50 and 51.
Visiting hours
Visting is 2:30pm – 5:00pm and 6:30pm – 8:00pm
Location
North of Scotland Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit (NOS-CTS),
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary,
Foresterhill,
Aberdeen,
AB25 2ZN
Tel: 0845 4566000
Trust Website: http://www.nhsgrampian.org/
Cardiac Outcomes
Number and type of operations performed
This graph shows the number and percentage of each type of heart surgery done by this consultant surgeon. The number of operations is shown in the line going up the left hand side. The percentage (%) underneath each coloured bar shows how much of this consultant's heart surgery is made up each procedure type.
The 'key' underneath the graph shows what procedure(s) each coloured bar shows. The abbreviations used are explained below:
- Isolated: This procedure has been carried out on its own. No other procedures were done during the same operation.
- CABG: Coronary artery bypass grafting
- AVR: Aortic valve replacement
- MV: Mitral valve procedure
You can find out more about these procedures in the 'About cardiothoracic surgery' section. If you or someone you know if having heart surgery, it may be helpful to know whether the consultant does lots of that procedure. If you have questions or concerns about the number of procedures being done at your hospital, you should speak to your heart surgeon.
In-hospital survival rate (risk adjusted)
This graph shows the percentage of patients who survived their operation and left hospital alive. This is the 'In-hospital survival rate'. Some patients are more unwell than others and some need more complex operations. Hence, hospitals and consultants perform a range of cardiac operations and the type of patients they operate on can differ. So that we can make fair comparisons between them, the survival rates have been 'risk adjusted' to take into account the illness of the patient and the complexity of the operation. The dot on the graph shows the risk-adjusted survival for the unit/surgeon you have selected and the number of operations performed over the last 3 year period. The blue line indicates the predicted survival and the red dotted lines the range of results expected, worked out by complex statistics.
For more information on understanding mortality rates, look at the Understanding the graphs page
Average patient risk profile
Some risk factors like age, gender, and other medical problems can affect the outcome of heart surgery.
Each of the graphs below shows what percentage of this consultant's patients have each risk factor (light blue bar on the left) next to the average for the whole of the UK (dark blue bar on the right). This can tell you whether the consultant operates on high risk patients in general, and whether they specialise in doing particular types of complicated surgery, like operations on the thoracic aorta.
You can find out more about the risk factors in the 'About cardiothoracic surgery' section.
Thoracic Outcomes
Thoracic surgery units also undertake surgery for lung cancer, and other cancers within the chest such as thymoma or mesothelioma, collapsed lungs known as pneumothorax, major infections and to biopsy suspicious areas, among other surgery. The SCTS collects data on these other operations in the thoracic registry. Some data for this hospital from the 2016-17 audit year* is given below;
| Cases Performed | |
| Primary lung cancer resections all primary lung cancer resections | 64 |
| Total thoracic surgery excluding endoscopy all case (excluding endoscopy) | 225 |
| Did this hospital perform radical surgery for mesothelioma in 2015-16? | no |
| Did this hospital perform chest wall deformity (pectus) surgery in 2015-16? | yes |
Consultant Cardiac Surgeons 2014 - 2017: 4
Consultant Congenital Cardiothoracic Surgeons: 0
Consultant Thoracic Surgeons 2014: 4
