This scoping document outlines the areas of kidney cancer care included in the audit, describes the approach we used to develop the audit’s scope, specifies which data sources will provide the required information and provides the basis for our healthcare improvement plan.
- The National Kidney Cancer Audit will report on kidney cancer care in England and Wales, with a particular focus on areas of the patient pathway which could be improved
- Previous assessments have provided evidence and baseline results, which the audit will build upon, using patient-level clinical data from all English and Welsh providers through a range of national electronic data feeds
- Working in close partnership with audit stakeholders (listed in the scoping document) and aligning with complementary national initiatives, five quality improvement goals have been set, which cover the patient pathway from diagnosis to treatment and outcome, and importantly, patient experience of care
- The audit aims to reduce inequity in access to the most up to date care, increase the use of biopsies during the diagnostic process, ensure patients are treated appropriately for the stage of their disease by reducing unnecessary surgery, expediting treatment where needed and adapting when the standard of care changes, increasing the rate of kidney cancer cure and finally improving the overall experience of care for patients
- These goals form the basis for the selection of the ten quality performance indicators the audit will report on, again, chosen in collaboration with audit stakeholders. These quality performance indicators will be measurable, clinically relevant and statistically robust
- The audit will report on our quality performance indicators at both the national and provider level on an annual (State of the Nation Report) and quarterly basis (quarterly reporting on our website).