Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England logoLink to Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England
. 2000 Jul;82(4):275–279.

Regional variation in varicose vein operations in England 1989-1996.

R B Galland 1, P J Whatling 1, T J Crook 1, T R Magee 1
PMCID: PMC2503501  PMID: 10932664

Abstract

AIM: To determine accuracy of Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) codes for varicose vein (VV) operations and differences in regional activity over 7 years. METHODS: OPCS codes were obtained for VV operations (L85, L87) for the 8 English regions 1989/90-1995/96. Data were also obtained for the 4 districts of the old Oxford Region. Centrally collected codes for one hospital were compared with audit data from the same hospital. RESULTS: There was a marked inter-regional variation in VV activity, e.g. in 1995/96 the range of operations/100,000 population was 102 (Anglia & Oxford) to 138 (West Midlands). There was a gradual increase in the number of operations carried out nationally from 98/100,000 in 1989/90 to 121/100,000 in 1995/96. The numbers peaked in 1991/92, coinciding with a 'waiting list initiative'. When compared with audit data, accuracy of coding improved throughout the study period. There was a 55% inaccuracy in 1989/90 compared with 2% in 1995/96. In each year, codes overestimated the volume of work actually carried out. CONCLUSION: OPCS codes broadly reflect VV activity. Difference in VV activity in different parts of the country are apparent.

Full text

PDF
275

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Biland L., Widmer L. K. Varicose veins (VV) and chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). Medical and socio-economic aspects, Basle study. Acta Chir Scand Suppl. 1988;544:9–11. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Cook T. A., Michaels J. A., Galland R. B. Varicose vein clinics: modelling the effects of seasonal variation in referrals. J R Coll Surg Edinb. 1997 Dec;42(6):400–402. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Coon W. W., Willis P. W., 3rd, Keller J. B. Venous thromboembolism and other venous disease in the Tecumseh community health study. Circulation. 1973 Oct;48(4):839–846. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.48.4.839. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dixon J., Inglis S., Klein R. Is the English NHS underfunded? BMJ. 1999 Feb 20;318(7182):522–526. doi: 10.1136/bmj.318.7182.522. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Evans C. J., Allan P. L., Lee A. J., Bradbury A. W., Ruckley C. V., Fowkes F. G. Prevalence of venous reflux in the general population on duplex scanning: the Edinburgh vein study. J Vasc Surg. 1998 Nov;28(5):767–776. doi: 10.1016/s0741-5214(98)70051-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Evans C. J., Fowkes F. G., Ruckley C. V., Lee A. J. Prevalence of varicose veins and chronic venous insufficiency in men and women in the general population: Edinburgh Vein Study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1999 Mar;53(3):149–153. doi: 10.1136/jech.53.3.149. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Galland R. B., Magee T. R., Berridge D. C., Hopkinson G. B., Lewis M. H., Parvin S. D. Variation in vascular activity in the United Kingdom: an analysis of five regions. Cardiovasc Surg. 1999 Dec;7(7):694–698. doi: 10.1016/s0967-2109(98)00111-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Galland R. B., Magee T. R., Berridge D. C., Hopkinson G. B., Lewis M. H., Shiralkar S., Parvin S. D. Accuracy of centrally recorded OPCS codes for vascular surgery in the United Kingdom. Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 1998 Nov;16(5):415–418. doi: 10.1016/s1078-5884(98)80009-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Galland R. B., Magee T. R., Lewis M. H. A survey of current attitudes of British and Irish vascular surgeons to venous sclerotherapy. Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 1998 Jul;16(1):43–46. doi: 10.1016/s1078-5884(98)80090-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Galland R. B., Magee T. R. Survey of changes in the provision of vascular surgical services in the Oxford Region over 5 years. Br J Surg. 1998 May;85(5):637–640. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2168.1998.00701.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gough M. H., Kettlewell M. G., Marks C. G., Holmes S. J., Holderness J. Audit: an annual assessment of the work and performance of a surgical firm in a regional teaching hospital. Br Med J. 1980 Oct 4;281(6245):913–918. doi: 10.1136/bmj.281.6245.913. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. James N. K., Reid C. D. Plastic surgery audit codes: are the results reproducible? Br J Plast Surg. 1991 Jan;44(1):62–64. doi: 10.1016/0007-1226(91)90183-k. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Michaels J. A., Browse D. J., McWhinnie D. L., Galland R. B., Morris P. J. Provision of vascular surgical services in the Oxford Region. Br J Surg. 1994 Mar;81(3):377–381. doi: 10.1002/bjs.1800810318. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Muñoz E., Soldano R., Schroder W., Gross H., Goldstein J., Wise L. Utilization and outcome in the medical patient referred to surgery. Am J Surg. 1989 Feb;157(2):237–240. doi: 10.1016/0002-9610(89)90535-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Umeh H. N., Reece-Smith H., Faber R. G., Galland R. B. Impact of a waiting list initiative on a general surgical waiting list. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1994 Jan;76(1 Suppl):4–7. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Weddell J. M. Varicose veins pilot survey, 1966. Br J Prev Soc Med. 1969 Aug;23(3):179–186. doi: 10.1136/jech.23.3.179. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England are provided here courtesy of The Royal College of Surgeons of England

RESOURCES