Two new breast cancer audits to be launched

Preparations are under way to commence two new national breast cancer audits, as the work of the National Audit of Breast Cancer in Older Patients (NABCOP) draws to a close.

As announced earlier this year, on 1 October 2022, the new National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre (NATCAN) will be launched and is designed to strengthen NHS cancer services by looking at treatments and patient outcomes across England and Wales. The NATCAN will be run by the Clinical Effectiveness Unit (CEU) at the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

The NATCAN’s programme of work includes two new breast cancer audits. The first audit will look at primary breast cancer, while the second will focus on secondary (metastatic) breast cancer, for women and men of all ages.

The CEU has been managing the NABCOP since April 2016, and the work of the NABCOP and lessons learned will be used to inform the planning and delivery of the two new audits.  Resources from the NABCOP such as the guide to the breast cancer pathway for older women, and the fitness assessment for older patients in the breast clinic, continue to be made available.

The Clinical Leads and CEU staff who have worked for the NABCOP will also continue to be involved in the two new audits, helping to ensure a smooth transition and continuity of expertise in breast cancer audit. The new audits will also use the same data sources, principally the cancer registration datasets.  Improving data completeness among key data items will continue to be imperative for accurate reporting. Breast cancer units should continue their cancer registration data returns and implement NABCOP recommendations while the new audits are established.

The NABCOP website will remain available and the NABCOP Twitter account (@NABCOP_news) and newsletters will provide updates about the new audits as more information becomes available.

More information about the NATCAN is available on the HQIP and Royal College of Surgeons of England websites.

For any queries relating to either of the two new breast cancer audits (including any questions not answered by the information above), or if additional colleagues at your services should be added to our distribution lists for the new audits please email the audit team at breastcanceraudits@rcseng.ac.uk.

Any queries relating to the NABCOP can be addressed to the NABCOP team via the website contact form or at nabcop@rcseng.ac.uk.