HQIP awards Royal College of Physicians contract to deliver National Lung Cancer Audit

Published: 08 Sep 2015

Today the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) is pleased to announce it has awarded the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) the contract to deliver the National Lung Cancer Audit (NLCA), for the forthcoming 3-5 years.

More about the National lung cancer audit >

The NLCA has previously achieved outstanding levels of NHS hospital participation with data being used to drive improvements in the quality of care for people with lung cancer. The RCP is promising to build on this success by delivering a new NLCA that incorporates key advances in the field of lung cancer diagnosis and treatment, while retaining the most successful elements of the previous audit.

For the first time organisations have come together to direct and deliver the audit, including nurses who specialise in lung cancer care, surgeons, oncologists and patients through the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. In addition, all the data will be collected in near-real-time directly through Public Health England’s National Cancer Registration Service.

NLCA senior clinical lead Dr Ian Woolhouse said: “The RCP is very excited to be given this opportunity to deliver the national lung cancer audit and we will take it to the next level. The RCP has a great track record in quality improvement and we intend to use the data in a really productive way that meets our ultimate aim, the improvement of patient care.”

The Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery is also partnering with RCP to deliver the audit. Thoracic surgery audit lead, Doug West said: “SCTS is delighted to be partnering with the new NLCA team on this important project.  We strongly support the publication of the results achieved by cancer teams, and believe that high quality lung cancer surgery should be available to all patients who could benefit.”

Stewart Malcolm, 61 from Hastings, East Sussex is a patient who had surgery for Stage 2 lung cancer two years ago, strongly believes that all patients in England and Wales who present to their GP symptoms consistent with lung cancer should receive the same excellent standards of care.

Mr Malcolm said: “I know from my own experience that early detection is vital in assessing and treating lung cancer.  So I hope that the information gathered by the National Lung Cancer Audit helps to ensure that all patients, wherever they live, can receive treatment of the very highest quality. Delays in processing the results of X-rays, for instance, can have a significant impact on how quickly a patient is referred for treatment of further investigation. In my case, all went well and the care I received, from my GP, from the hospital staff and since my surgery, has all been wonderful.  We should all be making every effort to ensure that such excellent care becomes standard practice, so that all patients and families can experience a consistent level of service right across the country.”