The British Hernia Society (BHS) Registry Subcommittee was established in 2021 in response to growing calls from healthcare professionals, patients, and industry stakeholders for consistent, nationwide data collection in hernia surgery. Its mission: to develop, oversee, and implement a hernia registry that enhances the quality of patient care through continuous and standardised data reporting. Back
This ambitious initiative is guided by a multidisciplinary team of surgeons and patient representatives, ensuring a patient-centred approach from inception. The registry encompasses all hernia repairs—elective and emergency—across the UK, and the committee is actively recruiting surgeons and hospitals to participate.
The BHS Registry was officially launched at the 13th BHS Conference in Oxford in November 2024. By January 2025, over 400 cases had been logged by 30 surgeons across 31 hospitals. By January 2026, the registry will include data from 2,000 patients contributed by 65 active surgeons across 70 hospitals.
The registry captures data on surgical techniques, mesh types, operative outcomes, and crucially, patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). This comprehensive dataset will enable benchmarking across techniques, surgeons, and institutions, laying the groundwork for future research, product development, and long-term patient outcome tracking. Future developments include making the registry mandatory and connecting it to the NHS data spine.
How to Get Involved
To contribute to the BHS Registry:
- You must be a member of the BHS. Membership is free and available via the BHS website.
- NHS surgeons must obtain trust approval and comply with local governance protocols.
- To enter patient data, register for access via the BHS Registry page, where you’ll create a username and password.
- All patients must provide informed consent using the BHS-provided consent form.
For registry-specific queries, please contact the BHS Registry team via email: registry@britishherniasociety.org