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The audit process

Information about the WAASM audit process.

WAASM is a peer-review process. Participation by consultant surgeons is a requirement of the College's Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program.

To start, WAASM is notified of all deaths that occur in Western Australia through the web-based Patient Administration System (webPAS). In the case of private hospitals, WAASM is notified of all deaths directly by the hospital medical records department.

There are 3 main inclusion criteria (PDF 49.17KB) for a death to be reported to WAASM.

Next, WAASM electronically sends a Surgical Case Form (SCF) to the consultant surgeon linked to the case. This is done via the Fellows Interface, a web-based application for completing and submitting SCFs. The consultant surgeon may choose to electronically delegate the case to a registrar/trainee. The SCF is:

  1. completed by the consultant surgeon or the delegated registrar/trainee;
  2. electronically submitted to WAASM;
  3. de-identified and sent to a first-line assessor (a consultant surgeon from the same specialty but different hospital) for anonymous peer-review.

If a second-line assessment (case note review) is not requested by the first-line assessor, the original surgeon will be sent written feedback and the case will be closed.
If a second-line assessment (case note review) is requested by the first-line assessor, because the case needs further investigation, then these steps are followed:

  1. medical records are requested from the case hospital/s;
  2. a second-line assessor is chosen by WAASM (a consultant from the same specialty but different hospital) for detailed peer-review;
  3. the second-line assessor then reviews the SCF, the medical records and the first-line assessor’s comments before writing a one-page report (the review is carried out and the report written in a spirit of sympathetic enquiry, providing sufficient details for a clear view of events);
  4. the one-page report and written feedback is sent to the original surgeon and the case will be closed.

Note: At each stage of the process, the original surgeon has the right of reply.