The National Joint Registry (NJR) for England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and Guernsey, collects information on hip, knee, ankle, elbow and shoulder joint replacement surgery and monitors the performance of joint replacement implants. The NJR started collecting data in April 2003 and submission for NHS organisations has been mandatory since April 2011.
The NJR is hosted by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) and overseen by a Steering Committee (NJRSC), which is designated as an NHS England (NHS E) ‘Expert Committee’.
The NJRSC Chairman reports directly to the NHS E Medical Director. NJR core services are managed under two contracts held with: NEC Software Solutions: for collection and management of data and technology and the University of Bristol: for provision of statistical support and analysis of data, to support NJR outcome monitoring, research activity and publications.
The NJR management team, hosted by the Healthcare Improvement Quality Partnership (HQIP), is responsible for overall operational and contract management of the NJR and for supporting the work of the NJRSC and its sub-committees. Hip, knee, ankle, elbow and shoulder joint replacements have become more common and are generally highly successful operations that bring many patients improved mobility and relief from pain. Many thousands of such operations take place in the UK each year.
A wide range of implants can be used in the joint replacement operations. The registry helps to monitor the performance of these implants and the effectiveness of different types of surgery, improving clinical standards and benefiting patients, clinicians and the orthopaedic sector as a whole. The NJR currently collects data on all hip, knee, ankle, elbow and shoulder joint replacements across both the NHS, and the independent healthcare sector.