Measuring the quality of surgical care provision to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients

[Excerpt] Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians have a life expectancy 8 years less than other Australians.(1) Access to equitable high-quality surgical care may be a contributing factor to this dis-parity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients have a higher emergency to elective surgery ratio,(2,3) a global indicator of access to surgical care.(4) When Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians do access surgical care, they may experience higher rates of post-operative morbidity and mortality.(5–11) The focus must now shift from simply reporting disparities in surgical outcomes for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians to identifying,measuring and addressing the process measures involved in these poor surgical outcomes.