Author: Lacia Ashman

New patient video: My breast cancer story

21 Oct 2026

To mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, HQIP is sharing the full video interview with patient representative and advocate Sharon-Ann, who speaks openly about her breast cancer journey, following the publication of the article My breast cancer story: From heartbreak to hope earlier this month. This powerful video interview offers the opportunity to hear her story – from diagnosis and treatment through to becoming a powerful voice for patients – in her own words.

Data can show us where things may be falling short, while patients explain what that actually feels like and what needs to change”

In the video interview, Sharon-Ann reflects on the importance of early detection, person-centred care, and involving patients in decisions about their health. She also explains why healthcare data and patient experience must be considered together, helping services to deliver effective treatment AND take into account what care feels like for the people “behind the numbers”, as Sharon-Ann puts it.

By sharing Sharon-Ann’s story as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, HQIP aims to highlight the value of listening to patients and using their insights, to improve care and outcomes. Her experience also offers an important reminder to undertake regular checks, and seek medical advice if you notice any changes.

Watch the video in full

Watch on the HQIP website: My breast cancer story: From heartbreak to hope

Find out more: October 2026 is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Find out more about HQIP’s work to support improvements in breast cancer care.

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Sharing clinical audit findings so people can act

21 Oct 2026

HQIP’s CEO, Chris Gush, explains how we share clinical audit findings, why it’s vital to improvement, and how everyone can help…

National clinical audit helps us see where care is working well and where it needs to improve. We want that evidence to be available to everyone who has an interest in it, particularly patients and the people responsible for delivering services. At HQIP, we publish findings and recommendations so they’re available for all to use, and work hard to get them to the people who can act on them. 

That includes being clear about findings that raise difficult questions. Differences in treatment, gaps in care, and inequalities in outcomes need to be understood. Patients should be able to see what the evidence says about their care, and those responsible for services should be able to explain how they are responding. 

The Government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England places transparency about the quality of care at the heart of NHS improvement. National clinical audit provides a robust foundation for that ambition. Our published findings help patients to ask informed questions, and give those responsible for services the evidence to identify priorities and track improvement. 

Our national clinical audit and outcome review reports are free to access through our online reports archive, alongside summaries and recommendations. We also publish a schedule of forthcoming reports, so people can see what is planned and arrange to receive regular updates. 

Our National Clinical Audit Benchmarking portal lets people explore published results by trust, hospital, unit or audit. Individual programmes provide further detail through their own websites and data platforms, including more recent results where available. 

We also have a responsibility to make recommendations useful. We work with audit teams and funders to reach a consensus on recommendations, considering what the evidence supports and who is best placed to act. Each recommendation makes clear what needs to improve and who is responsible for acting on it. 

HQIP’s approach has been informed by work on how national audit can better support improvement. In his June 2021 review, former HQIP Senior QI Lead Dr Ian Woolhouse proposed concise annual summaries with no more than five national recommendations, alongside public interactive results, more frequent feedback, and online resources to best support local improvement. The aim being to make the evidence easier to use in improving care. This work has informed how we structure reports and recommendations. 

The recommendations themselves are publicly available. Our reports and recommendations repository brings them together, helping organisations maintain oversight of what is being asked of services across different areas of care. 

We share new publications through website news announcements and a dedicated report bulletin, with further coverage in our regular monthly ebulletins. We send tailored information to NHS trust communications teams, professional bodies and national organisations, as well as clinical networks and charities with an interest in the subjects covered. 

We actively encourage colleagues and organisations to share through their own channels. We support this sharing through professional forums and social media, with follow-up posts drawing attention to individual reports. Further coverage in our newsletters and website articles keeps findings in view beyond publication day. 

We put effort into this because findings need to reach people with different responsibilities. Clinical teams need to understand what the results mean for their practice. Trust medical, nursing and multidisciplinary leaders, executive teams and boards need to consider the implications for quality and safety, and the action required within their organisation. 

Regional teams can use the evidence to identify shared challenges, and support learning between services. National organisations can use it to inform policy, standards and decisions about how care is organised. NHS England also circulates publication updates through its policy, clinical leadership, communications and regional quality networks. 

Our impact of data website area explains how this evidence supports safer care and addresses inequalities, alongside the contribution of patients and carers. We also publish programme impact reports on individual programme pages, including primary breast cancer, kidney cancer and maternity and perinatal care. These describe how programmes support improvement and complement their clinical findings and recommendations. 

Our current Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign is a key example of how we work with the wider sector and patients to share our resources with those who need to see them. It brings together the primary and metastatic breast cancer audits, their published findings and recommendations, links to dashboards and articles explaining the work. It also includes a patient’s perspective, in both article and video formats, on the importance of data and listening to the people who use services. 

Our audit data also contributes to research that reaches audiences beyond the clinical audit community. In July 2025, research using PICANet data highlighted inequalities in outcomes for children admitted to intensive care. Published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, the findings were shared publicly by Imperial College London and HQIP. The Guardian also covered the research. This helps bring important questions about the quality and fairness of care into wider public discussion. 

Open reporting also means explaining results carefully. Readers need to know what period the data covers, how comparisons have been made and where there are limitations. Our published clinical findings and recommendations are open to everyone, while the underlying patient information remains subject to safeguards that protect confidentiality. 

I welcome interest in our work from patients, healthcare professionals and the media. National clinical audit provides a basis for asking informed questions about care and holding services to account. We want people to read the findings, discuss the recommendations and use them to support improvement. 

I would encourage anyone interested in healthcare quality to explore HQIP reports and sign up for publication updates. Within services, the findings should inform improvement plans and board discussions, with clear responsibility for responding to recommendations. By working together, we can support patients to see what has changed as a result.

Sharing national clinical audit

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National Cancer Plan: From strategy to improvement

14 Oct 2026

As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we take another look at the National Cancer Plan for England, which includes an overarching aim for three in four people diagnosed with cancer to be cancer-free or living well five years after diagnosis. 

Achieving this ambitious goal would mean 320,000 more lives saved over the Plan’s lifetime. But, with priorities spanning faster diagnosis and treatment, improved survival, better quality of life, and a reduction in inequalities in cancer care, is this aim still on track? And how are national clinical audits, and their resultant cancer data, supporting the sector to turn those priorities into measurable improvements for patients? 

There are encouraging signs that the necessary infrastructure for change is developing. The Plan included £200 million of ring-fenced cancer funding for 2026/27, distributed through Cancer Alliances, with an expectation that regions and alliances will provide intensive support to the Trusts that need it. Alongside this, it commits to providing services with rapid, reliable and actionable information, to review performance and identify unwarranted variation. For this, the national clinical audit programmes within the HQIP-commissioned National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre (NATCAN) are an invaluable resource. They publish regular findings on a live dashboard, in addition to more detailed annual reports with improvement recommendations, giving healthcare providers an evidence base on which to act. 

When HQIP responded to the Plan in March 2026, former Medical Director Professor Danny Keenan described national clinical audits as the “backbone of accountable improvement”. In an article published at the time (National Cancer Plan: Opportunity for change), he highlighted the need to make audit findings accessible to all frontline teams in order to translate evidence about variation into practical quality-improvement activity. Professor Keenan could see that the Plan provided a catalyst for working together to deliver a step change in improvement; however he argued that this would only happen if we pool our collective resources, skills and knowledge.  

The recommendations from NATCAN are an example of this in practice. Mapped to quality improvement goals, they are generated from findings from across the cancer audits, and are published alongside supporting materials such as Action Plan templates, Methodology Supplements and provider-level results. As such, they identify actionable priorities for clinical teams, Trusts and Cancer Alliances. Examples include improving timely treatment for higher-risk kidney cancer, addressing delays in lung cancer pathways, and strengthening access to genomic assessment for bowel cancer.  

So, the current immediate challenge is to connect national ambition and audit evidence with local delivery. Data must reach those who are able to act on it; findings must be converted into supported improvement plans; and progress must be measured by outcomes. The opportunity identified by HQIP back in March remains clear. If national clinical audit data, insights and improvement resources are brought together and acted upon, they can help to ensure that the National Cancer Plan is not simply a statement of intent, but delivers evidence-led improvement for all patients. 

Find out more: October 2026 is Breast Cancer Awareness Month – find out more about HQIP’s work to support improvements in breast cancer care

Further resources

National Cancer Plan_BC

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My breast cancer story: From heartbreak to hope

1 Oct 2026

As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, patient representative, advocate and author of ‘Why Me? My Fight for Life From Heartbreak to Hope’, Sharon-Ann, talks to HQIP about her breast cancer journey, sharing her thoughts about the value of data and patient involvement in the design and delivery of breast cancer care. Watch the video, or scroll down to read the article…

“Although my breast cancer was diagnosed in 2020, my cancer journey started five years earlier. At that time, for around a year, I had been repeatedly misdiagnosed. Eventually, through the NHS Choose and Book system, I chose to go to St George’s in Tooting, where they identified what had previously been missed, and I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and associated cardiac amyloid. One hospital sadly failed me, while another saved my life. During my subsequent treatment, my heart became severely damaged, leading to stage 2 heart failure and, at one point I was given just six months to live.

Data is extremely important, because it shows what’s working and what isn’t”

By 2020, my multiple myeloma was in remission but, during lockdown, I found a lump. In fact, I was prompted to check by Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and so I went to my GP. They referred me to a hospital within the necessary time frame and that was quickly followed by a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Thankfully, since entering the breast cancer pathway, everything has gone extremely well, and I’m pleased to say that I’m now cancer free. They took into consideration my background and heart failure. I felt as if my patient care and worries were noted pretty much throughout, and the overall care has been extremely good; the treatment was rapid. 

From patient to patient advocate  

As a result of my multiple myeloma, I wrote a book in 2018, to talk about the effects of misdiagnosis, as well as other factors such as (for me, at that time) issues around support given by a clinical consultant versus a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS). However, since then, I have contributed regularly to nurse training at St George’s over several years; and I have subsequently seen first-hand how things have changed for the better (when accompanying someone else who had been diagnosed with lymphoma on a hospital visit). With my multiple myeloma, the whole experience was very clinical; but 11 years on, the change was amazing. The consultant explained everything, and then she gave us time with the CNS for as long as we needed, in a separate room.

I feel like I can be the person behind the numbers” 

Since writing my book, I have acted as a patient advocate, raised significant funds for Macmillan Cancer Support, and worked as an insights panellist for a number of organisations. In 2025, I started a Community Interest Company (CIC), Heartbreak to Hope, which grew out of my book and my own experiences. Through the CIC, I support people affected by serious illness, loss and major life changes, with a focus on early awareness, prevention and health inequalities. 

The importance of patient voice AND data 

I believe that data is extremely important in improving patient care and outcomes, because it shows what’s working and what isn’t. But, speaking to patients tells you something else; it tells you what it feels like. I think that it’s so important to have both, in order to improve care. I feel like I can be the person behind the numbers. 

Personally, I’ve always questioned pretty much everything that I’ve been told. I was advised to have a mastectomy and, for me, it wasn’t what I wanted. I was supported in that decision by my consultants, and we went down a different pathway. While the doctors can give you medical advice, as patients, we know ourselves. It’s important that the patient is involved in their own healthcare.

Speaking to patients tells you something different; it tells you what it feels like” 

As a Black woman, I’m also very conscious of inequalities in healthcare, with people having spoken to me about differences in their experiences of care. I think this is another area where data is important, because it can help us see where those differences exist. But we need to use that information, alongside what patients are telling us, to make changes.  

Treat the person, not the condition 

With my breast cancer care, I had multiple additional issues that needed to be taken into consideration. As mentioned, I was in remission for multiple myeloma, and had severe heart failure. So, for a long period, I was navigating different cancer teams as well as the cardiac team. And they don’t necessarily fit into any one pathway. Therefore, I think we need to look at the whole person, because they are often juggling so many different things. Again, we need the data to steer treatment; but it needs to be more joined up. 

Breast Cancer Awareness Month: early detection saves lives 

Finally, I’d like to encourage everyone to know what is normal for their breasts, and check themselves regularly this Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and every month! Finding a problem early can mean prompt diagnosis and treatment (one of the slogans for 2026 is Early detection saves lives). That was certainly the case with my breast cancer. I saw something on social media during the campaign that reminded me that we need to check ourselves, and that’s how I found the lump. It’s so important to use these awareness events to encourage people to check themselves. I do it on a monthly basis, but October is a good opportunity to remind everyone. If I didn’t find the lump when I did, I probably wouldn’t be here today. Self-detection does indeed save lives.

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Finding the missing millions: Driving improvements in cardiovascular disease prevention

30 Sep 2026

In light of World Heart Day on 29 September 2026, we revisit the CVD Modern Service Framework, together with CVDPREVENT (National Audit of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Primary Care)

Following the publication of the Government’s Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Modern Service Framework (MSF) in July 2026, CVDPREVENT (commissioned in part by HQIP*), reflects on how it supports the audit’s core aim of “finding the missing millions who don’t yet know they are at risk” (as their Clinical Lead, Dr Peter Green, puts it). In other words, how will the CVD Framework work in tandem with programmes like audits and the wider sector to prevent ‘heart disease’, and reduce related complications and deaths over the next decade? 

A single national ambition 

The Modern Service Framework has one main clear and measurable ambition: to reduce premature deaths from heart disease and stroke among people under 75 by 25% within ten years. To achieve this, it sets out a goal of reaching people who are most likely to experience heart attacks and strokes before these events occur. The Framework adopts a cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CVKM) approach, which recognises the close connection between cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and metabolic conditions such as diabetes. Rather than addressing these conditions separately, it seeks to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment across the whole pathway. 

Aligning CVDPREVENT with the Framework’s priorities 

The MSF’s initial focus is on driving improvements in twelve priority areas over the next three years. Each priority has a baseline, a three-year target and a ten-year target. Such clear goals support clear metrics for CVDPREVENT, and so they are aligning their work to relevant priorities in the Framework. To enable ICBs and other healthcare planners to work toward one consistent set of national ambitions, CVDPREVENT is adopting the MSF’s ambitions where they supersede the audit’s previous targets. In the case of some priorities, their work is able to already evidence progress: 

Framework priority CVDPREVENT indicator 
Priority 3: SGLT2 inhibitors The new CVDP001VCVKM indicator supports monitoring of appropriate SGLT2 inhibitor use as part of a broader CVKM approach 
Priority 4: Hypertension treatment to target CVDP007HYP measures treatment to target among people with hypertension who do not have established cardiovascular disease 
Priority 5: Lipid optimisation CVDP008CHOL supports the assessment of lipid management among people without established CVD 
Priority 7: Blood pressure and cholesterol optimisation For people who already have cardiovascular disease, the framework will use: CVDP010HYP, a new hypertension indicator CVDP012CHOL, which measures cholesterol treatment to target 
Priority 8: Four-pillar therapy for heart failure The new CVDP004HF indicator supports monitoring of four-pillar therapy for people with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, commonly known as HFrEF 

Case finding – identifying the missing millions 

The audit’s indicators also support the measurement of two further CVD MSF priority areas: smoking cessation (priority 1) and CVRM case-finding (priority 2). In relation to the latter, the scale of case-finding required is significant. CVDPREVENT’s data indicate that more than one million people across England have a recorded marker that may suggest undiagnosed hypertension, chronic kidney disease (CKD) or diabetes. In March 2026, 1.86% of the registered population (942,504 people) had a single blood pressure reading of 140/90mmHg or above but no GP-recorded hypertension. A further 0.39% had their last two eGFRs (measure of kidney function) below 60ml/min/1.73m², meeting the diagnostic criteria, but no GP record of CKD. Finally, 0.044% had their last two HbA1c records at 48mmol/mol or above, meeting the diagnostic criteria, but no GP record of diabetes. Over 1.1 million people remain in these potential missed diagnosis groups. Identifying these people is central to the ambition of “finding the missing millions”. Earlier diagnosis provides opportunities to manage risk factors before someone experiences a heart attack, stroke or other serious complication. Case-finding is therefore not simply about adding diagnoses to patient records. It is about connecting people to appropriate services, and saving and improving lives. Millions of lives, in fact. 

Data indicate that more than one million people across England have a recorded marker that may suggest undiagnosed hypertension, chronic kidney disease or diabetes 

Liz Corteville, Quality Improvement Lead at CVDPREVENT, adds: “What this scale tells us is that the opportunity to save lives is already sitting in GP records, right now. Our job at CVDPREVENT is to make that visible and actionable, through the Quality Improvement Data Packs, the Data & Improvement Tool and targeted educational outreach, so finding these million-plus people isn’t an abstract national ambition but something a practice or PCN can genuinely work through, quarter by quarter.” 

Making variation visible 

One of CVDPREVENT’s greatest strengths lies in making variation visible. As of March 2026, cholesterol treatment of patients with identified CVD target stood at 52.96% nationally, however achievement varied significantly by ethnicity (ranging from 40.8% in the Black ethnic group to 56.9% in the Asian ethnic group1). Insights like this enable ICBs, GP practices and other healthcare providers to target support, rather than treat CVD prevention uniformly.  

The audit’s insights are also extremely valuable in aligning resources with local need. For example, in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, where CVDPREVENT data have been used to compare local performance with other areas of England, and target support accordingly. As a result, between March 2022 to September 2025, the ICB reported considerable improvements: 

  • Additional 55,000 people without established CVD being identified as being at high risk of developing it.
  • Additional 62,500 people being diagnosed with hypertension
  • Additional 70,000 people having their blood pressure treated to target
  • Additional 47,000 people at high risk of CVD starting lipid-lowering treatment 

Also, between June 2024 and September 2025, a further 5,000 people with known CVD had their cholesterol treated to target.

Looking forward  

The Modern Service Framework signals that further indicators aligned to CVDPREVENT’S work are likely to follow. As outlined above, the audit has already introduced new baseline indicators in the current reporting round, including measures relating to CVKM risk and heart failure. Over time, this should expand the programme’s treatment-to-target role from the priorities it already covers to fuller CVKM reporting.  

While CVDPREVENT will be the principal source of information on the Framework’s primary care priorities, it will not cover every aspect. Priorities concerned with acute hospital care and rehabilitation are likely to remain within the remit of other national audits, such as stroke. This reflects the broader value of the MSF: bringing together information from different parts of the health system around a shared set of outcomes and ambitions. This vision is consistent with the aspirations of wider national healthcare strategy. As the first Modern Service Framework to be published following the NHS 10 Year Health Plan, the CVD MSF’s importance extends beyond preventing, and improving care for, cardiovascular disease (acutely important though that is). Its publication, and subsequent delivery, offers a blueprint for improving treatment, and reducing premature deaths from, a spectrum of conditions, by aligning national strategy and targets with improvement initiatives, including national clinical audits. CVDPREVENT, whose reporting now feeds into the NHS Oversight Framework, is a forerunner of this approach. 

And, as for the “missing millions” living with undiagnosed hypertension, chronic kidney disease, diabetes or other cardiovascular risk factors? By combining clear strategic ambitions with robust national and local intelligence, we stand a much better chance of identifying who they are – and, importantly, saving and improving their lives. If the ambition of the Modern Service Framework is realised, they will no longer be missing; they will be found, supported and given the opportunity to live long and healthy lives. 

1 CVDPREVENT Data & Improvement Tool 

*About CVDPREVENT 

CVDPREVENT is commissioned by HQIP as part of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP), and delivered by NHS England, NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit (AGEM CSU) and the NHS Benchmarking Network (NHSBN), which leads the audit’s reporting and quality improvement workstream. It aims to support professionally-led quality improvement in primary care for the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in England, and has reported on a quarterly basis since data collection began in 2019/20.  

Further information 

CVD MSF

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World Patient Safety Day 2026: Using data to deliver safer care 

17 Sep 2026

17 September 2026 marks World Patient Safety Day, a global campaign led by the World Health Organisation to raise awareness of patient safety and promote action to reduce avoidable harm in healthcare. This year, the focus is on safe care for non-communicable diseases, highlighting the importance of delivering effective, coordinated, and evidence-based care for people living with long-term conditions.  

At HQIP, patient safety is at the heart of everything we do. Through the commissioning and oversight of national clinical audits, clinical outcome review programmes and registries, we help ensure that healthcare teams have access to robust data and evidence that can identify risks, reduce variation, support improvement, and ultimately improve outcomes for patients. As highlighted on our new patient safety insight hub, learning from audits and registries plays an essential role in helping healthcare services identify where harm may occur and take action to build safer systems of care.  

Insufficient use is made of the NHS’s data resources to generate insights and support improvement” Review of patient safety across the health and care landscape (July 2025)

Patient Safety resources from HQIP 

NEW Article – Spotlight on stroke: From data to safer care  

Stroke provides a powerful example of why improving the safety of care for non-communicable diseases matters. Earlier this month, HQIP published From data to safer care: The role of stroke audit in improving quality of care, in partnership with Patient Safety Learning, highlighting how the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) uses national audit data to support safer, more effective stroke care.  

Stroke remains one of the leading causes of death and disability, with more than 92,000 people admitted to hospital with stroke between April 2024 and March 2025. Ensuring patients receive rapid assessment, timely treatment, and effective rehabilitation is critical, with delays often having significant consequences for outcomes and recovery. 

SSNAP demonstrates how national clinical audit can help address these challenges. By measuring care across the entire stroke pathway and benchmarking performance against evidence-based standards, the programme provides actionable insight that supports quality improvement and patient safety. Recent findings show improvements in access to timely brain imaging and increases in the use of life-saving treatments such as thrombolysis and thrombectomy, illustrating how data can help drive meaningful improvements in care.

Read the article

Clinical Audit Awareness Week: Patient Safety webinar recording and case study

During Clinical Audit Awareness Week 2026, patient safety was one of the campaign’s five featured themes – including a webinar that brought together expert speakers from across the healthcare system to explore how data can support safer care. The webinar recording and presentations remain available, providing a valuable opportunity to revisit the discussions and share learning more widely. 

The 2026 campaign week also showcased numerous examples of how audit can improve patient safety in practice via the Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards. For example, the runner-up of the Evidence into Practice category explored the impact of improved clozapine monitoring in medium secure services and demonstrated how audit findings can be translated into practical improvements that strengthen monitoring processes and support safer prescribing, reducing risk for patients receiving clozapine treatment.

Discover the case study

A dedicated resource for patient safety 

HQIP has recently launched a new patient safety section of our website, bringing together resources, articles, case studies, and examples from across our programmes in one easily accessible place.

Access these resources

Further resources from HQIP  

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Quality Improvement Week 2026: Quality data is the bedrock of robust QI

14 Sep 2026

As Quality Improvement Week (14-18 September 2026) begins, healthcare organisations across the country are coming together to share learning, celebrate success, and explore how evidence can be translated into better care for patients. 

We do audit because we believe that tomorrow can be better than today” Professor Henrietta Hughes OBE, Patient Safety Commissioner (Clinical Audit Awareness Week 2026) 

The week comes at a pivotal time for the NHS. The Government’s 10 Year Health Plan sets out an ambition for a health service that is more preventative, more community-based and more digitally enabled. Delivering those ambitions will require more than policy change alone. It will require a culture of robust continuous improvement. To achieve that, the healthcare sector will need high-quality data and insights that highlight what is working (and what is not), where variation exists, and where change will have maximum impact. 

The key role of national data 

Data from national clinical audits, clinical outcome reviews, and registries has a critical role to play in the transformation of our healthcare services. Evidence from HQIP’s programmes enables healthcare teams to understand performance, identify opportunities for improvement and ultimately achieve better outcomes for patients. As NHS services continue to evolve, ensuring that data is used not only for assurance, but also for learning and improvement, has never been more important. Indeed, there is growing recognition that its greatest value lies not simply in measuring performance, but in driving targeted improvement. 

Quality improvement resources from HQIP 

This week, we take the opportunity to share some of HQIP’s resources that are publicly available, to support QI in healthcare. In addition to reports and infographics from our programmes – which span a multitude of conditions – our website offers a range of resources, including guidance, case studies, benchmarking tools, and more. Find below some key resources that are relevant to QI Week. 

Article: Healthcare data – the key to improvement and efficiency 

HQIP’s Chair and former NHS England deputy Medical Director, Dame Celia Ingham Clark, features in BMJ Leader, sharing why clinical audit must play a key role in designing an NHS that is “Fit for the Future”: www.hqip.org.uk/news/bmj-leader-3dec25 

Benchmarking data to drive QI 

HQIP’s National Clinical Audit Benchmarking (NCAB) website provides an interactive visualisation of metric results from across our programmes, searchable by audit, topic, keyword and healthcare provider: www.hqip.org.uk/programmes-data/benchmarking 

NHS Best practice guide: Clinical audits and registries 

This guidance sets out a unified approach for commissioning and overseeing clinical audits and registries across the NHS in England and within the audit and registry community: www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/clinical-audits-registries-best-practice-guide 

Article: Integrating clinical audit and quality improvement to deliver impact for patients 

HQIP Associate Director, Dr Iain Smith discusses the subject of integrating clinical audit and quality improvement to deliver impact for patients: www.hqip.org.uk/news/bmjleader-ca-for-patient-impact 

Clinical Audit Awareness Week resources 

Designed to celebrate the critical role of clinical audit and data-driven healthcare improvement, the campaign explored how insight becomes action across five themed days, and generated a wealth of resources: www.hqip.org.uk/news-and-articles/clinical-audit-awareness-week-2026 

Find out more about QI Week 2026: QI Week | The Academy of Research and Improvement 

Further resources from HQIP 

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Benchmarking data published

9 Jul 2026

The following datasets were recently published on the National Clinical Audit Benchmarking (NCAB) website, HQIP’s online portal which provides access to national audit performance data:

In addition, NCAB is awaiting corrected data for Fracture Liaison Service Database metric 1 ‘Case identification of all non-spine fractures (KPI 2)’, as an error has been identified in the previously published data. Until the corrected data is loaded, please review results for this metric, here.

NCAB is an online portal, hosted by HQIP, which provides access to national audit performance data. Users do not need to register, and can access audit benchmarked data searchable by trust, hospital or unit. For all datasets currently published, go to the NCAB site.

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21 Oct 2026

Benchmarking data published

Data relating to maternity and perinatal care has been published on HQIP's benchmarking site, NCAB.

Position statement: Audit & QI in postgraduate training

1 Jul 2026

HQIP has shared a position statement on resetting audit and quality improvement in UK postgraduate medical training and specialty selection.

This statement sets out HQIP’s recommended approach to how clinical audit and quality improvement should be taught, supported, assessed, and rewarded across UK postgraduate medical training. It is designed to be endorsed by the Medical Royal Colleges and used to influence postgraduate curricula, workplace learning, and specialty selection frameworks.

Read Position Statement
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21 Oct 2026

Benchmarking data published

Data relating to maternity and perinatal care has been published on HQIP's benchmarking site, NCAB.

Clinical Audit Awareness Week 2026 – all you need to know

29 Jun 2026

Clinical Audit Awareness Week, hosted by HQIP, took place from 22-26 June 2026, and what a week it was!

Under the theme Improving Lives with Healthcare Data, the week showcased how insight can be turned into meaningful action and improvement, with a vibrant programme spanning five themed days. With a packed agenda, the campaign included daily thought-provoking webinars, discussions, and online events announcing the Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards winners. The topics covered ranged from improvement delivery through to strategic impact – and much, much more:

  • Turning Strategy into Reality: Exploring how clinical audit supports strategic and national priorities
  • Patient Involvement and Care Equity: Focusing on patient voice, community engagement, and tackling inequalities
  • Innovation and Transformation: Showcasing cutting-edge approaches, including AI, open source software, and data analytics
  • Patient Safety: Demonstrating how audit data directly improves safety and outcomes
  • Data-Informed Improvement: Looking at how we can turn insight into measurable impact.

The recordings and slides for all events are expected to be made available on HQIP’s dedicated #CAAW26 webpage over the next couple of weeks (we will also endeavour to cover some of the questions we weren’t able to answer during the sessions here). More about the campaign, and the events, can also be found here in the meantime: www.hqip.org.uk/caaw26.

We do audit because we believe that tomorrow can be better than today,” Professor Henrietta Hughes OBE, Patient Safety Commissioner (at HQIP’s Patient Safety webinar, 25 June 2026)

The campaign has been hailed as the “best yet”, bringing together healthcare professionals, patients, and partners to champion the transformative impact of clinical audit and data-driven improvement across the NHS. With unprecedented engagement on social media and event attendee numbers, it was a truly collaborative affair. However, this was evident beyond HQIP-hosted activities. A key part of the success of #CAAW26 was the engagement of those involved in improving healthcare. From anaesthetists to vascular specialists, and from auditors and patients to healthcare leaders, we could not have run this campaign without you. We are grateful to everyone who took part, whether that’s coming to HQIP-hosted events or running your own activities, up and down the country.

Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards

A major highlight of the week was the Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards, celebrating outstanding individuals and teams who are transforming healthcare through audit and evidence-based improvement. Find below a summary of the winners:

  • Strategic Impact Award – Winner: Dr Aicha Bouraoui and the Adolescent and Young Adult Rheumatology Team, University College London Hospitals
  • Equity and Patient Involvement Award – Winner: CAMHS Link Worker Team, West London NHS Trust
  • Innovation Award – Winner: Data Science and Infection Prevention and Control Team, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Patient Safety Award – Winner: Dermatology Department, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust
  • Evidence into Practice Award – Joint Winners: Dr Inderpal Singh OBE, Fracture Liaison Service, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board; and the Urology Prostate Cancer Pathway Team, Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

In addition, two additional commendations recognised excellence in the use of national clinical audit data and effective communication for impact, further underlining the importance of collaboration and sharing learning across the system.

Details of all award winners, as well as runners-up, can be found here: Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards.

Congratulations to all participants, winners, and contributors who made this week such a success!

More from HQIP

Clinical Audit Awareness Week 2026 not only celebrated achievements, but also reinforced a clear message: data, when used effectively, can change lives. Did you know that HQIP’s website is a central hub for data, reports and further resources to support healthcare improvement:

In addition, you can also find information about particular clinical, and other topics (such as health inequalities) by using the ‘Topics’ drop-down menu across the top of this site, for example, the Maternity, perinatal & neonatal page contains information about programmes, reports and other updates relating to those areas.

Stay up-to-date: To find out the latest about #CAAW26, such as when event recordings are being shared, as well as other data-informed improvement news, sign up to HQIP’s mailing list.

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30 Jun 2026

Latest news: June 2026 eBulletin

Find out about the latest news and updates relating to clinical audit, outcome reviews and data-informed healthcare improvement.

CAAW26 Use of National Clinical Audit winners announced

26 Jun 2026

We are delighted to share that the winners of the Using National Clinical Audit commendation (part of the Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards 2026 during Clinical Audit Awareness Week) have been announced!  

This is an additional award given to projects that demonstrate excellence in the use of data from the HQIP-commissioned National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP), to deliver improvements in healthcare. Many congratulations to:  

JOINT WINNER: Dr Inderpal Singh OBE, Fracture Liaison Service, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board 

Dr Singh

This project aimed to strengthen secondary fracture prevention by improving fragility fracture identification and management, using data from the Falls and Fragility Fracture audit (FFFAP). The team designed and implemented a digitally enabled model that replaced multi-step referrals with a streamlined, system-wide automated identification process. With poor case ascertainment at the outset (22.7% in 2021), identification rose to 80% (3,015 cases) in 2025, double the national benchmark of 40% (and achieved five years earlier than planned).

JOINT WINNER: End of Life Care Leadership team, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

ELHT A Thorpe J Gaskell photo NCAPOP commendation joint winner

This project used data from the National Audit of Care at the End of Life (NACEL) to drive improvements, including care planning and communication with patients and their families. Analysis of results from 2019 to 2025 demonstrated sustained improvement across key NACEL indicators and patient experience measures, with the Trust moving from one of the lowest ranked in 2019 to exceeding all NACEL key indicators in 2025. 

RUNNER-UP: National Paediatric Diabetes Audit, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH)

NPDA-logo

This project made extensive use of data from the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit (NPDA), enabling real-time monitoring of uptake, equity, outcomes, and service variation. By integrating a variety of datasets from across the system, the programme created a comprehensive national view of diabetes care for children and young people. It led to substantial improvements in access to diabetes treatments without increasing data burden for clinical teams.

Who are the other winners? 

This award is one of five main, and two additional commendation, categories in this year’s Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards. The winners are announced at a series of daily online events from 22-26 June 2026, which are run alongside a series of themed webinars, aligned to the award categories. 

All award winners announced so far can be found here: Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards.

Clinical Audit Awareness Week 2026 

A week-long national campaign that aims to improve and save lives by promoting and celebrating the critical role of clinical audit and data-driven healthcare improvement. Join in the fun by sharing online, using #CAAW26! 

Find out more: Clinical Audit Awareness Week 2026 

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CAAW26 Communicating for Impact winners announced

26 Jun 2026

We are delighted to share that the winners of the Communicating for Impact commendation (part of the Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards 2026 during Clinical Audit Awareness Week) have been announced!  

This is an additional award given to projects that demonstrate excellence in effective communication of the impact of clinical audit and/or improvement projects. Many congratulations to:  

WINNER: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Link Worker Team, West London NHS Trust

Reaching the Unreached: Transforming Child Mental Health Access in Diverse Communities is a data-informed quality improvement approach to building trust, awareness, and culturally responsive involvement. The project communicated its impact through strong community engagement, data transparency, and collaborative learning. Using messaging that was accessible, culturally relevant and trusted, it utilised a combination of data, storytelling and community-based communication to ensure that the project’s impact was widely understood.

JOINT RUNNER-UP: Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT), hosted by NHS Blood and Transplant

The team communicated through a coordinated, multi-audience approach designed to reach patients, families, carers and healthcare professionals. A suite of patient-focused resources was developed, enabling easy discovery and trust, in addition to tailored implementation packs for healthcare professionals. Clear analytics, user feedback and real patient experiences have consistently been used to evidence reach, engagement and value, ensuring the project’s impact is visible, credible and compelling to all stakeholders. 

JOINT RUNNER-UP: Special Care Community Dental Services, Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

This quality improvement project was designed to evaluate and improve the outcomes and experiences of patients attending the Dental Drop-in Clinic for Birmingham’s homeless community. Using effective communication through multidisciplinary partners, staff training and patient communications, feedback, complaints and incident data were all used alongside qualitative quotations to reinforce a patient-centred narrative and improve care.

JOINT RUNNER-UP: NHS Southern Gambling Service (SGS), Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Trust

The SGS delivers gambling disorder treatments across a population of 9.4 million people in the South of England. They work with their lived experience group to ensure that their work is co-produced and informed by need and impact for all people with gambling disorders, for example working with them on scientific journal publications, poster presentations and conference attendance. They are also working with NHS England and others, to lead and promote similar work at a national level.

Who are the other winners? 

This award is one of five main, and two additional commendation, categories in this year’s Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards. The winners are announced at a series of daily online events from 22-26 June 2026, which are run alongside a series of themed webinars, aligned to the award categories. 

All award winners announced so far can be found here: Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards.

Clinical Audit Awareness Week 2026 

A week-long national campaign that aims to improve and save lives by promoting and celebrating the critical role of clinical audit and data-driven healthcare improvement. Join in the fun by sharing online, using #CAAW26! 

Find out more: Clinical Audit Awareness Week 2026 

Other news

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CAAW26 Evidence into Practice award winners announced

26 Jun 2026

We are delighted to share that the winners of the Evidence into Practice category of the Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards 2026, which are part of Clinical Audit Awareness Week, have been announced!  

This award recognises clinical audits and evidence-informed improvement projects that have resulted in clear and impactful change to the delivery of services. These evidence-based projects have resulted in practical action on the ground, helping teams and systems to deliver meaningful change and improve care for patients. Many congratulations to:  

JOINT WINNER: Dr Inderpal Singh OBE, Fracture Liaison Service, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board 

Dr Singh

This project aimed to strengthen secondary fracture prevention by improving fragility fracture identification and management, using audit. The team designed and implemented a digitally-enabled model that replaced multi-step referrals with a streamlined, system-wide automated identification process. With poor case ascertainment at the outset (22.7% in 2021), identification rose to 80% (3,015 cases) in 2025, double the national benchmark of 40% (and achieved five years earlier than planned).

JOINT WINNER: Urology Prostate Cancer Pathway Team, Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Service Redesign and Capacity Improvement Through Nurse Practitioner Role Expansion in the Prostate Biopsy Pathway

This project (Service Redesign and Capacity Improvement Through Nurse Practitioner Role Expansion in the Prostate Biopsy Pathway) uses audit to address critical delays between clinic review and LATP biopsy, and improve outcomes for prostate cancer patients. The result was an increase in clinic capacity by 33.3% and biopsy capacity by 37.5%, without requiring additional consultant sessions or theatre lists; maximising the use of limited resources and demonstrating evidence into practice. 

RUNNER-UP: Ty Llywelyn Medium Secure Services, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB)

This project was designed as a structured, multi-cycle clinical audit to evaluate compliance with policy and guidelines of Clozapine, an antipsychotic medication with risk of fatal side effects. It combined robust quantitative monitoring with multidisciplinary qualitative analysis, enabling clear identification of issues, to deliver a strong foundation for evidence-informed change. Across the three cycles, the audit demonstrated transformational improvements and sustained adoption.

Who are the other winners? 

This award is one of five main, and two additional commendation, categories in this year’s Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards. The winners are announced at a series of daily online events from 22-26 June 2026, which are run alongside a series of themed webinars, aligned to the award categories. 

All award winners announced so far can be found here: Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards.

Clinical Audit Awareness Week 2026 

A week-long national campaign that aims to improve and save lives by promoting and celebrating the critical role of clinical audit and data-driven healthcare improvement. Join in the fun by sharing online, using #CAAW26! 

Find out more: Clinical Audit Awareness Week 2026 

Other news

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CAAW26 Patient Safety award winners announced

25 Jun 2026

We are delighted to share that the winners of the Patient Safety category of the Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards 2026, which are part of Clinical Audit Awareness Week, have been announced!  

This award recognises clinical audits and evidence-informed improvement projects that have a primary focus on improving patient safety. Many congratulations to:  

WINNER: Dermatology Department, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust

Patient Safety winner team photo

This project was designed to monitor skin cancer Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) outcome compliance using audit data, since failure to implement MDT decisions pose significant patient safety risks. The first cycle demonstrated 74% compliance, which was lower than before the Covid-19 pandemic; so multiple interventions were introduced. A re-audit, six months later, demonstrated improved compliance with MDT outcomes up to 92%.

RUNNER-UP: Rehabilitation Unit, Clayponds Hospital, West London NHS Trust 

Breaking the Fall was developed to reduce harm from inpatient falls, since variation in practice and limited reliability of preventative interventions were a significant patient safety concern. By taking a robust, data-driven improvement approach using clinical audit principles and quality improvement methodology, the team delivered safer care through system redesign, staff engagement, and continuous learning. 

Who are the other winners? 

This award is one of five main, and two additional commendation, categories in this year’s Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards. The winners are announced at a series of daily online events from 22-26 June 2026, which are run alongside a series of themed webinars, aligned to the award categories.  

Register NOW: Find out more about, and register for, HQIP’s free online events, to find out about all the winners of the Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards and hear more about the Clinical Audit Awareness Week topics: 

  • Friday 26 June, 10am-12pm: Data-Informed Improvement (morning webinar) REGISTER HERE
  • Friday 26 June, 1-3pm: Data-Informed Improvement (afternoon webinar) – with Evidence into Practice award announcement REGISTER HERE. 

All award winners announced so far can be found here: Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards.

Clinical Audit Awareness Week 2026 

A week-long national campaign that aims to improve and save lives by promoting and celebrating the critical role of clinical audit and data-driven healthcare improvement. Join in the fun by sharing online, using #CAAW26! 

Find out more: Clinical Audit Awareness Week 2026 

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Nottingham maternity report published, featuring audit data

24 Jun 2026

The Ockenden independent report into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has been published today. The biggest maternity inquiry of its kind, the report investigates the quality of care relating to newborn, infant and maternal harm at the Trust; and presents findings, conclusions and essential actions.

The report draws on findings from multiple HQIP-commissioned national clinical audits and outcome reviews, highlighting the importance of these programmes:

MBRRACE-UK (Maternal, Newborn and Infant Clinical Outcome Review)

Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK (known as MBRRACE-UK) is mentioned several times, including:

“Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK (MBRRACE-UK) highlighted that inadequate care during the latent phase of labour is a significant issue contributing to adverse outcomes.” (page 154)

“The MBRRACE-UK perinatal surveillance programme has provided comparison of perinatal and neonatal mortality rates across hospitals since 2013, using stabilised and adjusted rates that account for maternal age, socio-economic deprivation, baby’s sex and ethnicity, multiplicity and gestational age at birth.” (page 188) The 2026 report can be found here: Perinatal Mortality Surveillance report  – HQIP

National Maternity and Perinatal Audit (NMPA)

The National Maternity and Perinatal Audit (NMPA) is utilised for data on maternal critical care:

“Research suggests that for every maternal death, 70–90 women experience severe morbidity, and approximately 2.4 per 1,000 births result in a critical care admission (The National Maternity and Perinatal Audit Maternity Admissions study into intensive care in England, Wales and Scotland 2019).” (page 180) This report can be found here: NMPA Intensive Care Report – HQIP

National Neonatal Audit Programme (NNAP)

The National Neonatal Audit Programme (NNAP), referred to as the National Neonatal Audit Project in the report, is also mentioned:

“NNAP collects data from all neonatal units in England, Scotland and Wales on agreed quality improvement measures and enables benchmarking against other units. All available NNAP data for the period 2012 to 2025 was reviewed.” (page 188)

The report goes on to state that “All neonatal units must use national neonatal audit programme (NNAP) (RCPCH 2026) outcomes and GIRFT (NHSE 2026) reviews to focus quality improvement work and drive improvements in those areas identified as negative outliers with an emphasis on close to real time quality surveillance alongside the use of audit data” as part of its Immediate and Essential Actions to Improve Care and Safety in Maternity Services Across England (page 331)

Once again, this underlines the importance of data, not only in understanding what is happening, but also in driving improvement that has a meaningful impact on the lives of patients and their families.

The Ockenden Review worked with more than 2,500 families, and over 800 current and former staff; we wish to offer our condolences to everyone involved.

Read the Review in full

More data and resources from HQIP relating to maternity care

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21 Oct 2026

Benchmarking data published

Data relating to maternity and perinatal care has been published on HQIP's benchmarking site, NCAB.