A new national centre of excellence will improve NHS cancer services by examining treatments and patient outcomes throughout England and Wales.
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS England) will collaborate to lead The National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre.
This innovative centre will produce five new national cancer audits; breast cancer (primary and metastatic), ovarian, pancreatic, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and kidney cancer. It becomes part of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP), commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) on behalf of NHS England and the Welsh Government, News Medical reports.
It will also become part of the Clinical Effectiveness Unit (CEU) at RCS England which provides clinical audits in prostate, lung, bowel, oesophageal and stomach cancer, and has recently completed an audit of breast cancer in older patients. These audits have assisted in developing a greater understanding of cancer treatments across England and Wales, and improved outcomes for patients. They have also contributed to improvement initiatives within NHS cancer services and distinguished areas of best practice.
News Medical explained that NHS England and the Welsh Government will fund the five new clinical cancer audits, with £5.4m for an initial period of three years. The aim of these audits will be to:
- Provide regular and timely evidence to cancer services of where patterns of care in England and Wales may vary.
- Support NHS services to increase the consistency of access to treatments and help guide quality improvement initiatives.
- Stimulate improvements in cancer detection, treatment and outcomes for patients, including survival rates.
Neil Mortensen, Professor and President at RCS England, said: “Over the past 15 years, our national clinical audits have shone an important spotlight on NHS cancer care across England and Wales, helping NHS hospitals to improve their services for patients. The new centre will give surgeons and other clinicians an opportunity to gain invaluable experience of research and quality improvement projects.”
David Cromwell, Professor of Health Services Research at LSHTM and Director of the CEU, added: “As well as improving diagnosis and treatment for patients, the centre provides an environment for large-scale national projects and fellowships, which will expand the skills and talent pool of researchers involved in healthcare performance assessment, clinical epidemiology, medical statistics and data science. We are delighted to expand our collaboration with RCS England.”
“These new clinical audits will play an important role in widening our understanding of the treatment that cancer patients receive from the NHS and will allow us to achieve more consistent outcomes for people across the country,” said Dame Cally Palmer, NHS England’s national cancer director.
The audits are dedicated to working with charities and experts relating to cancer care, delivering for patients, their families, healthcare professionals and the health service. Therefore, the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre will work closely with collaborating professional groups and patient charities. News Medical explained that “patient forums will be established to ensure that patients inform the quality improvement goals of each audit”.
Cancer treatment is a multifaceted area as there are numerous treatment options depending on the type of cancer and how the patients will respond, therefore, a patient’s cancer treatment plan should consider these factors.
News Medical added: “A key aim for each audit will be to ensure the information produced for cancer services recognises these differences and supports hospitals to focus on specific parts of the care pathway.”
Dr Julie Nossiter, Director of Operations at the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre, said: “Each audit will be led by a multidisciplinary team of clinical experts and senior academics.
“This will ensure the new audits are produced to the same high standard as those that the Clinical Effectiveness Unit (CEU) has run for years, maintaining the standards of excellence the CEU is renowned for. By having all the audits within one centre, teams will learn from each other, benefit from efficiencies and share best practice.”
