The National Bowel Cancer Audit (NBOCA) measures the quality and outcomes of care for people diagnosed for the first time with bowel cancer in NHS hospitals in England and Wales, to be able to improve the quality of the care that people receive. NBOCA has been a mandatory national audit since 2010.
NBOCA is commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP), funded by NHS England and the Welsh Government, and delivered by the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre (NATCAN), a part of the Clinical Effectiveness Unit (CEU) at the Royal College of Surgeons of England
Patient information
Who is involved with the audit?
The audit involves a wide range of professionals and organisations that collaborate to ensure its effectiveness. The core group is the NBOCA Project Team, which works in close consultation with its own Clinical Advisory Group and a Patient & Public Involvement Forum to integrate expert and patient perspectives.
Beyond these groups, the audit is a partnership between several key entities. The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) commissions the audit, while funding is provided by NHS England and the Welsh Government. The National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre (NATCAN), which is part of the Royal College of Surgeons of England’s Clinical Effectiveness Unit, is responsible for delivering the audit and managing the data.
How are patient data being collected?
In order to reduce the burden on hospital staff, the NBOCA does not ‘collect’ clinical data which aligns with HQIP’s Guidance for Data Burden Reduction. The audit utilise the nationally mandated flows of data from hospitals to the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHSE and the Wales Cancer Network in Public Health Wales.
Using this approach, NBOCA receives clinical information for every patient diagnosed with bowel cancer in England and Wales. Data from Trust/Health Board data submissions are linked to selected items from national datasets to provide information on the diagnosis, management and treatment of all patients newly diagnosed with each cancer type. That includes staging, mode of admission, comorbidities, surgical procedure or intervention.
Therefore, there is no need for NHS organisations to formally register for this audit, or input data on patients through a separate database portal. Additionally there is no audit specific deadline for trusts to submit data.
Does the national data opt-out policy apply to the data provided to NBOCA?
All patient identifiable information including name, address, date of birth, address, postcode and NHS number is removed (de-identified) by NHSE in England and WCN in Wales before they are securely transferred to the NBOCA team.
Where individuals have opted out of disease registration by the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS), their data has been permanently removed from the registry and is not provided. More information can be found here.
How are patients and the public involved?
Patients and patient charities are involved in all aspects of the delivery of the NBOCA. The NBOCA Patient and Public Involvement Forum provides insight from a patient perspective on strategic aims and specific audit priorities. This will include shaping the development of NBOCA’s QI initiatives by ensuring this work is relevant from a patient perspective.
A key activity of the PPI Forums will be to participate actively in the production of patient-focussed audit outputs (including patient and public information). This will help guide us on how best to make this information accessible.
Contact NBOCA
National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre
Clinical Effectiveness Unit
Royal College of Surgeons of England
38-43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London
WC2A 3PEE
Phone number: 0207 8696066
Email: nboca@rcseng.ac.uk