Queensland Trauma Registry

A trauma registry is an essential element for improvement in the prevention and management of serious injuries. Optimal acute care of a severely injured patient commences at the time of the injury and includes pre-hospital interventions, transport, emergency department review,  definitive inpatient care and rehabilitation.

A trauma registry is a database consisting of routinely collected information on the injury event, clinical presentation and treatment process for all patients considered to be sufficiently severely injured to be worthy of ongoing review. To be effective, trauma registries must be population-focused rather than hospital-focused, incorporate performance improvement strategies and provide information to support interventions at all points on the prevention to rehabilitation continuum.

QTR Leaflet with 2008 Data

The Queensland Trauma Registry (QTR) 

QTR is the lead programme of the Centre of National Research on Disability and Rehabilitation Medicine (CONROD) in the University of Queensland. As the lead programme of CONROD, the operation and outcomes of the QTR not only support the mission of Queensland Health, to help people to better health and well-being, but are congruent with the Mission of CONROD. 

The QTR Vision is to maximise the benefits of care provided by the Public Health System to people hospitalised in Queensland for serious injury by fostering best practice in data collection, clinical review and scientific research. It accomplishes this by collecting, analysing and distributing clinical and epidemiological data to support the quality assurance process and inform trauma service management and research. QTR Annual Reports have been produced since 2002.
 
Specifically, QTR maximises the benefits of care provided by the Public Health System to people hospitalised in Queensland for serious injury by:
  • Determining the incidence, cause, location, explanatory variables, treatment and outcomes of serious injury in Queensland,
  • Establishing benchmarks and identifying variations in accepted standards of care for people who experience serious injury in Queensland,
  • Facilitating clinical review and making recommendations for changes in trauma management throughout Queensland, and
  • Conducting scientific research to reduce future incidence and burden of injury and improve trauma management and outcomes. 
In achieving these aims we value:
  • Diversity
  • Teamwork
  • Communication
  • Excellence
  • Evidence based practice 
Quality assurance is a major priority in achieving and maintaining the highest standard of care within the trauma system. The QTR has performance indicators built into the data collection process, which are designed to act as filters to identify any care affecting outcomes that deviate from the benchmarks of established best practice standards.  
QTR routinely collects and analyses data for numerous variables, ranging from patient demographics to injury severity and outcome. These variables are explored and evaluated within the context of the various practice and research objectives of the registry.

Current sites of the QTR:

There are 20 Queensland public hospitals participating in the QTR along with a core Registry coordination team:  
  • Bundaberg Hospital QTR Trauma Nurse Coordinator: Gail Davies
  • Cairns Hospital QTR Trauma Nurse Coordinators: Jennifer Hanby, Jan Burns, Wendy Parker
  • Gold Coast Hospital / Robina Hospital  QTR Trauma Nurse Coordinators: Christel Jennekens, Alison Heppell / QTR Health Information Manager: Katherine Irving
  • Hervey Bay Hospital / Maryborough Hospital  QTR Trauma Nurse Coordinator: Sue Davies
  • Ipswich Hospital QTR Trauma Nurse Coordinators: Shelley Shepherd
  • Logan Hospital QTR Trauma Nurse Coordinator: Annie Bristol
  • Mackay Base Hospital QTR Trauma Nurse Coordinator: Traci Muscat
  • Mount Isa Hospital QTR Trauma Nurse Coordinator: Joanne Real
  • Nambour Hospital QTR Trauma Nurse Coordinators: Gina James, Sue Woodford / QTR Health Information Manager: Kim Lewis
  • Princess Alexandra Hospital QTR Trauma Nurse Coordinator: Dale Mason /
  • QTR Health Information Manager: Janet Conroy
  • Redcliffe Hospital / Caboolture Hospital  QTR Trauma Nurse Coordinator: Delia O’Brien
  • Rockhampton Hospital QTR Trauma Nurse Coordinators: Vivienne Oliver, Lisa Tierney
  • Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital  QTR Trauma Nurse Coordinators: Melissa Dale, Alison Duncan, Liz Hogan / QTR Health Information Manager: Richard Bennett
  • Royal Children’s Hospital / Mater Children’s Hospital  QTR Clinical Coder: Carolyn Starrett
  • Toowoomba Hospital QTR Trauma Nurse Coordinators: Cherie Giles, Glenda Thomas
  • Townsville Hospital (The)  QTR Trauma Nurse Coordinator: Judith Brennan

Since its inception in 1998, the QTR has made substantial progress towards a number of its objectives. Data is provided to all participating hospitals on a regular basis, as well as to health and government bodies annually. Trauma Review Committees operate in the majority of QTR hospitals to review the systems of trauma management and improve practice where possible. Research projects have been completed, are underway or are currently being developed in many aspects of trauma management across the continuum.

QTR Co-ordination:

Manager: Kathy Harvey
Principal Research Fellow: Dr Fumiko Irie
Senior Research Officer: Jacelle Lang
Research Officer: Natalie Dallow
Health Information Manager: Chantel Spanagel
Training & Development: Jasmin Carroll
  
CONROD
Level 3 Mayne Medical School
Herston Rd, Herston Qld 4006
Phone: 07 3365 5560 / Fax: 07 3346 4603