Data sources for NATCAN audits
NATCAN audits derive their performance indicators using information that is routinely collected by the NHS as part of the care and support given to people diagnosed with cancer, rather than data collected specifically for the Audit. The cancer audits utilise the nationally mandated flows of data from hospitals, thereby minimising the burden of data collection on provider teams. For people treated in England, the data are collated, maintained and quality assured by NHS England’s National Disease Registration Service (NDRS). This includes ‘gold standard’ National Cancer Registration Data (NCRD) and Rapid Cancer Registration Data (RCRD). For people diagnosed or treated in Wales, data are provided by NHS Wales Performance and Improvement (NHS P&I) using the Cancer Network Information System Cymru (CaNISC) or Cancer Dataset Form (CDF).
England: Timeliness of the National Cancer Registration Dataset (NCRD)
Data are submitted to the NDRS from a range of healthcare providers and other services (including histopathology and haematology services, systemic ant-cancer therapy and radiotherapy departments, screening services). Following initial registration by a cancer registration officer, a 6-month period is allowed for treatment to occur, the healthcare provider to submit data and the data to be processed. The quality and accuracy of the data are validated and processed to ensure that they are consistent and to a high standard. Once all the expected records for any one incidence year have been received and validated, NDRS takes a snapshot of the dataset, which provides a single, consistent source of cancer registrations. This time lag results in improved data completeness and quality, but it prevents the publication of more timely data. For more information on the NCRD, please see the Data Resource Profile. Once each year of data is assessed as being complete, it is released to produce official statistics and made available for researchers and others to use via the NHSE Data Access and Release Service. Routine full registration data is normally available around 18 to 24 months post diagnosis cohort. The NCRD for the period January to December 2023 was provided to NATCAN in November 2025.
England: Timeliness of the Rapid Cancer Registration Dataset (RCRD)
In addition to the NCRD the NDRS also creates and assures the Rapid Cancer Registration Dataset (RCRD). RCRD contains proxy tumour registrations and some associated events on the cancer patient pathway (e.g. surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy) from January 2018 to the most recently available data on cancer diagnoses. This rapid data set provides a quicker, indicative source of cancer data compared to the National Cancer Registration Data (NCRD), which relies on additional data sources, enhanced follow-up with trusts and expert processing by cancer registration officers. Due to the lower quality of the rapid registration data, the data will not match the eventual Official Statistics published on the full NCRD. Rapid cancer registration data is typically available within 4 to 5 months post-diagnosis.
Wales
NHS Wales is part way through a cancer informatics implementation programme which is designed to improve the data capture and reporting capabilities of NHS Wales. This ongoing implementation is impacting the data quality within NHS Wales in the short term with multiple systems being used and different implementation dates across cancer sites and organisations resulting in a complex data landscape. NHS Wales has committed to continue to submit audit data annually until data submissions are sourced exclusively from the new cancer informatics solution. This will be from 2027 onwards that NHS Wales will be able to supply quarterly data using this new integrated, and more accessible digital platform.