Irish hip fracture audit data support research, education and service improvement

Researchers examined how data from Ireland’s national hip fracture audit have been used beyond routine reporting and benchmarking. Their structured descriptive analysis drew on 12 national IHFD reports, published literature, organisational survey outputs from 2016, 2020 and 2024, and stakeholder-informed documents containing aggregated, non-identifiable information. Two researchers mapped identified examples to the five domains of the Joanna Briggs Institute evidence-based healthcare model, with discrepancies resolved by consensus or a third researcher.

The analysis identified secondary uses across all five domains and at international, national and local levels. Reported applications included international collaboration and shared datasets; national evidence synthesis, service planning, care models and policy; and local quality improvement, education, training, research and guideline development. Reports, dashboards, education initiatives and audit-linked incentives, including a Best Practice Tariff, were described as supporting implementation and improvements in care quality, data completeness, engagement and sustainability.

The authors present the IHFD as a model that other national audits could adapt. This is a descriptive analysis of one established Irish audit, not an evaluation quantifying the independent effects of particular data-use initiatives on patient outcomes. The findings therefore illustrate potential uses and reported impacts but do not establish that secondary use alone caused improvements in care.