National reports & publications

Assessment Guideline (PDF 269.48KB) 

This report is based on the activities and outcomes since 2009. Aggregating information from multiple regions over time will allow identification of emerging trends in surgical care. The aim is to identify any system or process errors and develop strategies to redress these.

ANZASM 2019 to 2020 National Report (PDF 1.12MB)
ANZASM 2017 to 2018 National Report (PDF 1.93MB)
ANZASM 2016 National Report (eBook)
ANZASM 2016 National Report (PDF 8.12MB) 
ANZASM 2016 National Report Media Release (PDF 154.96KB) 
ANZASM 2015 National Report (PDF 3.23MB) 
ANZASM 2015 National Report Media Release (PDF 123.27KB) 
ANZASM 2014 National Report (PDF 3.79MB) 
ANZASM 2014 National Media Release (PDF 29.99KB)
ANZASM 2013 National Report (PDF 10.35MB)
ANZASM 2012 National Report (PDF 2.32MB)
ANZASM 2011 National Report (PDF 1.92MB)
ANZASM 2010 National Report (PDF 1.83MB)
ANZASM 2009 National Report (PDF 3.51MB) 

An erratum has been issued for the ANZASM 2011 Report. Figure 34, page 39: The percentage of consultant involvement by region performing surgery in region 8 was incorrect. The figures for this region has been correctly revised and should be replaced in the report by the following pdf: ANZASM 2011 Annual Report page 39 (PDF 386.75KB).

2023

Self-regulated trustworthiness: reality or myth? ANZ J Surg, May 2023
Potentially avoidable mortality after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in Australia: an 8-year qualitative analysis, ANZ J Surg, May 2023
Reflections: Preventable Mortality Following Esophago-Gastric Cancer Resection, Ann Surg Oncol, May 2023
Understanding Potentially Preventable Mortality Following Oesophago-Gastric Cancer Surgery: Analysis of a National Audit of Surgical Mortality, Ann Surg Oncol. May 2023
Surgical interhospital transfer mortality: national analysis, Br J Surg, April 2023
Analysis of potential clinical management issues in unreported mortality data from an Australian health service, ANZ J Surg, March 2023

2022

Unexpected deaths after endocrine surgery: learning from rare events using a national audit of surgical mortality, Br J Surg, October 2022
Predictors of interhospital transfer delays in acute surgical patient deaths in Australia: a retrospective study, ANZ J Surg, June 2022

2021

Elective abdominal wall hernia repair surgical mortality-A systematic review of the literature and peer review of mortality in Australia, ANZ J Surg, July 2021
Peri-operative Mortality Following Cholecystectomy in Australia: Potential Preventability of Adverse Events, World J Surg, Mar 2021

2020

Necrotising fasciitis deaths in Australia: patient characteristics and potential areas for improvement in clinical management, ANZ J Surg, Sep 2020
Screening and Testing for COVID-19 Before Surgery, ANZ J Surg, Aug 2020
Factors affecting surgical mortality of oral squamous cell carcinoma resection, Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg, Aug 2020
Urinary tract stone deaths: data from the Australian and New Zealand Audits of Surgical Mortality, BJU Int, July 2020
Development of the 'People-Processes-Paradigm' critical analysis tool for mortality and morbidity reviews: improving understanding of systems factors, ANZ J Surg, June 2020
Victoria's perioperative response to the COVID‐19 pandemic, ANZ J Surg, June 2020
Mortality in Australian Cardiothoracic Surgery: Findings From a National Audit, Ann Thorac Surg, June 2020
Potentially avoidable urology mortality in Australia (PDF 51.61KB), ANZ J Surg, May 2020
Peer review of mortality after hepatectomy in Australia, HPB (Oxford), April 2020
Risk-adjusted hospital clinical management issue rates using data from the Victorian Audit of Surgical Mortality (PDF 800.06KB). ANZ J Surg, March 2020
Potentially avoidable issues in urology mortality cases in Australia: identification and improvements, ANZ J Surg, Feb 2020
Assessment of accuracy of Australian health service death data: implications for the audits of surgical mortality (PDF 210.87KB), ANZ J Surg, Feb 2020 

2019

Peer review of mortality after pancreaticoduodenectomy in Australia, HPB (Oxford), November 2019
Learning from Regret, BJS November 2019
Editorial: Learning from death, ANZ J Surg, November 2019
Rural centres do not have a higher prevalence of post-operative complications than urban centres: a retrospective analysis of a mortality audit, ANZ J Surg, July 2019
Systemic predictors of adverse events in a national surgical mortality audit: analysis of peer‐review data from ANZASM, ANZ J Surg, July 2019
Stakeholder’s perceived value of surgical audit data provided by the Victorian Audit of Surgical Mortality (PDF 384.58KB), Health Information Management Journal, December 2019
"Nobody told me": Communication issues affecting Australian cardiothoracic surgery patients, Ann Thorac Surg, June 2019
Implementing error rate checks to improve the data quality in the VASM (PDF 899.03KB), Computers in Biology and Medicine, January 2019

2018

Perioperative Mortality Following Oesophagectomy and Pancreaticoduodenectomy in Australia, World J Surg, 2018
Validation of data submitted by the treating surgeon in the VASM (PDF 225.9KB), ANZ J Surg, November 2018
Post‐mortem general surgeon reflection on decision‐making: a mixed‐methods study of mortality audit data,  ANZ J Surg, August 2018
Deaths in Incorrectly Identified Low-Surgical-Risk Patients, World J Surg. July 2018
Measuring Outcomes of Clinical Care: Victorian Emergency Laparotomy Audit Using Quality Investigator, World J Surg. July 2018 

Fracture Neck of Femur in the very elderly patient (PDF 2.43MB), QASM, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons 2018
Processes of care in surgical patients who died with hospital-acquired infections in Australian hospitals, Journal of Hospital Infection, May 2018
Snapshot of trauma laparotomy deaths in Queensland, ANZ J Surg, January 2018

2017

Overview of surgical death investigations: could a dreaded experience be turned into an opportunity? (PDF 206.93KB) ANZ J Surg, October 2017
Infections and NTASM Patients July 2010 - June 2017 (PDF 5.3MB), NTASM, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons 2018
How participation in surgical mortality audit impacts surgical practice, BMC Surgery, 2017
A national surgical mortality audit may be associated with reduced mortality after emergency admission, ANZ J Surg, February 2017

2016

Potentially preventable deaths in the Victorian Audit of Surgical Mortality (PDF 288.29KB), ANZ Journal of Surgery, October 2016
Perioperative Mortality Rates in Australian Public Hospitals: The Influence of Age, Gender and Urgency, World J Surg June 2016
Clinical events reported by surgeons assessing their peers, Am J Surg, May 2016
Potentially avoidable issues in neurosurgical mortality cases in Australia, ANZ J Surg, April 2016
No weak days -impact of day in the week on surgical mortality, ANZ J Surg, January 2016

2015

Surgical mortality audit data validity (PDF 87.78KB), ANZ J Surg, November 2015
Comparison of the Victorian Audit of Surgical Mortality with coronial cause of death (PDF 217.92KB), ANZ J Surg, May 2015.
Surgical care for the aged: a retrospective cross-sectional study of a national surgical mortality audit, BMJ Open, April 2015
The Australian and New Zealand Audit of Surgical Mortality-birth, deaths, and carriage, Ann Surg, February 2015

2014

Outcomes from the Northern Territory Audit of Surgical Mortality: Aboriginal deaths, ANZ J Surg, November 2014
Mortality Audit of Octogenarians With Acute Cholecystitis, ANZ J Surg, August 2014
Clinical management issues vary by specialty in the VASM: a retrospective observational study, BMJ Open, June 2014
VASM is associated with improved clinical outcomes, ANZ J Surg, June 2014
Mortality from acute appendicitis is associated with complex disease and co-morbidity, ANZ J Surg, July 2014

2013

Evaluating the value and impact of VASM, ANZ J Surg, June 2013

2012

Analysis of the causes and effects of delay before diagnosis using surgical mortality data, British Journal of Surgery, December 2012
Teleconference fracture clinics: a trial for rural hospitals (PDF 934.14KB), ANZ J Surg, 2012