NPCA FAQs

The National Prostate Cancer Audit (NPCA) evaluates patterns of care and outcomes and reports on diagnosis, treatment and outcomes for men diagnosed with prostate cancer in England and Wales. As much as possible, we compare practice and outcomes against national guidance and quality standards, including those from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to help NHS organisations benchmark their prostate cancer care against measurable standards and to identify unwarranted variation in measures of processes and outcomes.

The NPCA is driven by the Project Team members, supported by members of NATCAN, our Clinical Reference Group, our PPI group and our wider group of stakeholders (British Association of Urological Surgeons [BAUS], British Uro-oncology Group [BUG], HQIP, NHS England, Prostate Cancer UK, Royal College of Surgeons of England, and Welsh Government).

The NPCA is commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) as part of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP). The day-to-day running of the NPCA is based at the Clinical Effectiveness Unit (CEU) of The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCSeng) and is managed by a project team including clinicians, audit experts, cancer information specialists and project management specialists. The audit is also delivered in partnership with NHS England, the Wales Cancer Network, the British Associations of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) and The British Uro-oncology Group (BUG). The list of Project Team members and Clinical Reference Group Members can be found here https://www.natcan.org.uk/audits/prostate/team.

The audit includes all patients with a primary diagnosis of prostate cancer (aged >=18 at the date of diagnosis), defined by ICD-10 code C61 malignant neoplasm of prostate, within the current report period in England and Wales.

The following patients are excluded from the audit:
1) Reported by death certificate only or data of diagnosis corresponds to date of death.
2) Diagnosed and treated outside of an NHS organisation in England or Wales.

Prostate cancer is the most common solid cancer in men with over 55,000 new cases diagnosed each year in England and its incidence is increasing.
The National Prostate Cancer Audit (NPCA) evaluates patterns of care and outcomes and reports on diagnosis, treatment and outcomes for men diagnosed with prostate cancer in England and Wales.

As much as possible, we compare practice and outcomes against national guidance and quality standards, including those from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to help NHS organisations benchmark their prostate cancer care against measurable standards and to identify unwarranted variation in measures of processes and outcomes.

Yes, the NPCA is included in the Quality Accounts lists for 25/26 and 26/27. 

The latest list of NPCA key COSD data items can be accessed on the NATCAN website at the following link: https://www.natcan.org.uk/library/npca-key-cosd-data-items.

If a trust believes there is a discrepancy between their local data and what appears on the NPCA dashboard, we suggest first reviewing the indicator information and methodology supplement (see the FAQ titled “Where can I find the definitions for the Audit’s indicators and associated methodology?”).

It can also be helpful to look at data completeness on the dashboard, as incomplete data may affect how performance indicators are displayed.
If it looks like there may be a data submission issue, your team can contact the NDRS regional data liaison lead for support, and we’re happy to work with you to resolve queries together. For NDRS regional contact details, please see the NATCAN FAQ titled “How do I check completeness of cancer data submissions?”

Different risk-factors are adjusted for different performance indicators. The risk factors include age, co-morbidity, frailty, performance status, cancer stage, prostate cancer risk group, and deprivation. For more details information, please refer to the State of the Nation Methodology Supplement.

The NPCA reports results at the Specialist Multidisciplinary Team (SMDT) level or treating Trust level. For more detailed information, please refer to the State of the Nation Methodology Supplement.

The quarterly report is published every January, April, June and September. The next State of the Nation report will be published on Thursday 8th October 2026.

To receive the latest updates, you can subscribe to the Audit’s newsletter by emailing [email protected], and follow the Audit on LinkedIn National Prostate Cancer Audit (NPCA) and Bluesky @npca-natcan.bsky.social.

You can also refer to the “Update” tab on the dashboard, which displays the date of the next scheduled release.

For the State of the Nation Report, indicator definitions are provided in the State of the Nation Methodology Supplement.

For the quarterly dashboard, indicator definitions can be found in the “Indicator information” tab for each selected indicator. Trusts are also encouraged to review the “Methods” tab for further details on the underlying methodology.

You can access the NPCA’s Outlier policy here:
https://www.natcan.org.uk/library/npca-outlier-policy-2025