28/10/2026
Ireland remains a notable outlier in Europe by lacking a coordinated National Vascular Registry, a critical tool for clinical governance, quality improvement and implant surveillance. While mature systems across Europe, like Swedvasc, Karbase and the UK NVR have used data-driven benchmarking to optimize patient outcomes for decades, Irish Vascular Specialists must rely on administrative data that lacks the clinical granularity needed for meaningful comparison.
Our team at University Hospital Galway and the University of Galway has just published a new review article in the Irish Journal of Medical Science addressing this precise surveillance gap. Instead of building an overly complex system from scratch, we propose a testable, phased implementation framework for Ireland:
Start small: Focus initially on a universal clinical core for four index procedures (infrarenal AAA repair, carotid intervention, lower-limb revascularisation, and major amputation).
Reduce duplicate entry: Build a linked clinical-administrative architecture by reconciling data directly against the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) system.
Prioritize speed over complexity: Provide rapid, clinician-facing quarterly feedback to improve care dynamically before scaling up to complex risk-adjusted models.
Ireland does not need further proof that national vascular auditing is feasible. We need a deliberately limited, testable and sustainably funded model to make our clinical outcomes visible.
Read our full implementation framework here:
Background Ireland lacks a coordinated national vascular registry, despite a 2023 National Model of Care recommendation to establish one for quality improvement and implant surveillance. Aims To identify transferable features of established national vascular registry and audit systems and translate....
