Type 1 VICNISS User Group (VUG)

Discussion items are welcomed by members. These meetings are for you to discuss any issues you may have relating to VICNISS surveillance. If you would like to raise points for discussion please forward to Claire Boardman via email.

Next Meeting - TBA

Background

Invitees from participating organisations are invited to use the group to:

Share their experiences
Review their data surveillance programs
Discuss issues arising from surveillance activities

Statement of Purposes

Providing a forum for the exchange of views and experience amongst participants of the VICNISS surveillance project and the VICNISS Coordinating Centre.
Representing VICNISS database users by acting and speaking on their behalf where they would be affected by VICNISS developments.
Cooperating, supporting or liaising with other organisations with similar purposes
Undertaking other activities beneficial to the group

Meeting Guidelines

To be held a minimum of twice yearly
To be coordinated by the VICNISS Coordinating Centre
To be held on weekdays between 8am and 5pm
Location and time to be determined by members of group

Membership Requirements

A current VICNISS Type 1 hospital participant

Previous Meetings

14 May 2008: Haemodialysis surveillance and the proposed revisions to the laboratory confirmed bloodstream infection surveillance module. Preceding the discussion on these 2 issues was a demonstration of the SHIINe software by Simon Burrell (VICNISS Database Manager).
27 November 2007: Surgical Site Infections by Teleconference - Difficult surgical cases, e.g., COLO, CSEC, HPRO, KPRO procedure groups.
21 August 2007: Surgical Site Infections by Teleconference - Difficult surgical cases, e.g., COLO, CSEC, HPRO, KPRO procedure groups.
16 May 2007: Neonatal ICU by Teleconference - Difficult LC-BSI cases (for more information see the VICNISS eBulletin June 2007).
16 May 2007: Surgical Site Infections by Teleconference - Difficult surgical cases, e.g., COLO, CSEC, HPRO, KPRO procedure groups (for more information see the VICNISS eBulletin June 2007).
14 November 2006: Surgical Site Infections and Case Finding - applying the definitions to difficult cases. Users were invited to present their most difficult surgical site cases to the group for discussion and consensus. This initiative was commenced to assist case finding and application of the definitions, in some instances cases are just not that clear cut.
27 July 2005: This user group was held at Le Meridien prior to the VICNISS data presentation evening. It was devoted to assist the facilities that contribute, or intend to contribute, data on COLO procedures to VICNISS. Participating facilities have reported difficulty applying the infection definitions, and in some instances given the complexity of cases it is difficult to determine which types of surgery should be included. A summary of meeting proceedings will be available shortly.
1 December 2004: Held at VICNISS, this meeting was dedicated to issues surrounding Obstetrics and Gynaecological surgery including Caesarean sections, therefore all Infection Control Consultants at hospitals undertaking Type 1 & 2 surveillance on these procedures were invited as we have been alerted to many issues that pose problems at various hospitals, such as collecting risk factor data for C-sections, post discharge infections, antibiotic prophylaxis to name a few.
15 September 2004: Held at VICNISS a number of items were discussed at this meeting. These included concerns about the collection of data for Ventilator Associated Pneumonia, and potentially looking for a method of risk adjustment in this group. Other issues discussed included data quality, reports, surveillance plans, the orthopaedics costing study and the online education module on the VICNISS website. For more detailed notes please click here (PDF File 90kb, opens in a new window) to view and download.
31 March 2004: The first Type 1 User Group meeting for 2004 was held at St Vincent's, and included representation from 8 different hospitals. Issues discussed included ASA scores, changes to VICNISS data collection forms, feeding back data: who to and why, and VICNISS reports.
17 September 2003: The final Type 1 User Group meeting for 2003 was held at St Vincent's, and included representation from 8 different hospitals. Issues discussed included software, data collection and reports updates, communication issues, ICU issues (including clinical sepsis reporting, post discharge requirements, stratification of ICU types, and the LC-BSI definition), and SSI issues (including post discharge and additional risk factor data collection for Caeasrean sections, Craniotomy ICD coding, inclusion of Colon surgery, duration of surgery, and timing of AB prophylaxis).
21 May 2003: The second Type 1 User Group meeting for 2003 was held at St Vincent's, and included representation from 7 different hospitals. Issues discussed included a software update, ICU issues (including several data collection and methodology items), SSI issues (including emergency surgery definition and orthopaedic surgery total/partial discussions), and case finding HRN issues.
6 February 2003: The first meeting of the VICNISS User Group was held at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in the Charles Connibere Building, and included representation from 10 different hospitals and DHS. Issues discussed included the status of the software, Caesarean section surveillance, types of procedures included in SSI surveillance, and ICU case finding methodology.