The Quality Improvement Plan describes the approach taken across the NATCAN cancer audits to develop improvement goals and performance indicators, aiming for these to be measurable, actionable and improvable.
The NKCA Quality Improvement goals, developed following a thorough scoping exercise in 2023 and in consultation with stakeholders in the Clinical Reference Group (CRG) are as follows:
1. To increase equity in access to specialist kidney cancer services, including Clinical Nurse Specialist
2. To increase the use of renal tumour biopsy
3. To expedite treatment for patients with localized RCC at potentially high risk for recurrence (cT3+, 10cm+, cN1 tumours)
4. To increase use of surgery, if medically appropriate, for initially localised RCC at high risk of progression, while reducing the use of unnecessary radical surgery for low-risk RCC
5. To increase use of evidence based SACT treatment in eligible patients without increasing severe toxicity
The NKCA reports on eleven performance indicators to monitor progress against these five improvement goals and how they map to clinical guidelines and standards. A range of improvement methods and activities to help deliver the Quality Improvement Plan are also described.