12Spire Healthcare Annual Review 2010Director of Clinical Services' statementOur ability to consistently deliver high-quality clinical care, results from the willingness of clinical teams to work collaboratively with consultants and Medical Advisory Committees to enable modern and safe practice to flourish.""

13. 9% reduction in blood use - this has fallen year-on-year and now stands at half the rate it did when our transfusion programme began in 2006. in-patient surgical mortality down 30% on last year (and 60% on 2008)In addition, hospitals achieved an all-time high in terms of compliance with our record keeping standards, resulting in ever better communication between clinicians and nursing teams.Spire Healthcare's indicators of reliable care processes - returns to theatre (0.22%), transfers out (0.07%), readmissions (0.28%) - demonstrate continuing strong performance associated with 'high reliability' organisations. This is especially important as we continue to treat patients with increasingly complex health needs, oftenOur ability to consistently deliver high-quality clinical care, results from the willingness of clinical teams to work collaboratively with consultants and Medical Advisory Committees to enable modern and safe practice to flourish. We set great store by the availability of relevant, accurate and timely management information to help us monitor, analyse and, most importantly, act upon insights that drive up our standards of care. Spire's frontline staff provide hands-on care with dignity and compassion, as well as being clinically effective. Our established and strong systems for clinical governance support our teams with the information they need to help keep patients safe, to make them better again and to provide great care. This is why we believe Spire hospitals continue to grow their reputation for high clinical quality.Over this past year we successfully transferred the registration of all Spire services with the Care Quality Commission under section 10 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (in line with the planned transfer of registration for independent sector providers), as well as meeting all requirements for registration with the Human Tissue Authority (10 registrations), the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (two registrations), the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and the Scottish Care Commission (now Healthcare Improvement Scotland).Against a background of successfully improving our operating flexibility, I am pleased to report that hospitals have once again raised the bar in terms of clinical performance. Among the more notable highlights are:. 20% reduction in surgical site infection following hip and knee replacements, despite extending our surveillance periodIndependent sector average0.30%*Spire0.22%Independent sector average0.20%*Spire0.07%Independent sector average0.50%*Spire0.28%* Independent Healthcare Advisory Services (IHAS) Credentials Document (England); 2007.Returns to theatreReadmissionsUnplanned transfersService quality