Will the Cabinet Secretary explain why an Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) registry, which the Welsh Government committed to delivering in its 2017 OHCA Plan for Wales, has yet to be established?
The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust has, for several years, submitted Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) data to the Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Outcomes registry, which is managed by Warwick University.
In addition, the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust provides anonymous OHCA data to NHS Performance and Improvement, which is developing a quarterly OHCA report for Wales. This, together with the new “purple arrest” measures in the ambulance performance framework, gives the NHS a substantial evidence base to support improvement in return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) rates for people experiencing cardiac arrest outside hospital.
Progress towards establishing a fully linked OHCA registry has been constrained by the need for a legal basis to share patient‑identifiable information outside of a research repository environment. Work is ongoing to address requirements so patient‑level data linkage can be enabled safely and lawfully.