Forty-three Acute Pain Service units in Australia and New Zealand were, sur
veyed regarding data they collected on their daily rounds. The survey sough
t to determine what data each unit actually collected and what they conside
red to be a set of data that would be an acceptable minimal standard for th
e purpose of audit. The scoring or scaling mechanisms that were used in aud
iting the various parameters were also ascertained in an attempt to derive
a consistent means of comparing data from the various Acute Pain Service gr
oups. The Acute Pain Special Interest Group is currently developing suggest
ions for a standard data set and associated scoring mechanisms in line with
the results of this survey.