The National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD) documents case-mix, care, and outcomes for hip fracture patients. It contains over 250,000 cases, making it the world's largest hip fracture audit. The database was founded by the British Orthopaedic Association and British Geriatrics Society and is managed by the Royal College of Physicians.
Use Cases
- Analyze variations in surgical and rehabilitation care based on documented patient case-mix.
- Benchmark hospital performance against national standards based on reported care processes.
- Study mortality and return-to-home outcomes following hip fracture based on recorded patient data.
- Model the impact of policy interventions like the Best Practice Tariff based on audit trends.
Strengths
- Over 250,000 patient cases on record, making it the largest audit of its kind.
- Supports a national Best Practice Tariff, indicating its use in driving policy.
- Covers a multi-year period, allowing for longitudinal analysis of care improvements.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Data files only refer to England, despite the audit covering other UK regions.
Provenance
- Source
- Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP).
- Collection Method
- National clinical audit collecting data from hospitals.
- Time Range
- 2011-12 (supplementary report).
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-06-17 12:59:45.203629; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- England (data files), though audit covers England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, and Channel Islands.