New breast cancer care hub launched for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

1 Oct 2026

As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, HQIP has created a new breast cancer care resources hub, including publishing two new articles exploring how clinical audit and patient insights are helping to improve breast cancer care and outcomes across England and Wales to save and improve lives with trusted healthcare data.

How clinical audit is helping the NHS improve the entire breast cancer pathway – This article explores how insights from the national breast cancer audits are supporting improvements in care, from diagnosis through to treatment and ongoing support.
My breast cancer story: From heartbreak to hope – A patient perspective highlighting why both data and lived experience are essential to shaping services that meet patients’ needs.

Alongside these new articles, HQIP has also brought together the latest information from the national breast cancer audits, and other useful resources, in a new breast cancer care hub.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes at a significant moment for cancer services. Earlier this year, the National Cancer Plan for England recognised the importance of data and evidence in improving cancer care, while the recent announcement of a new National Cancer Board has reinforced the focus on delivering better outcomes and experiences for patients. Achieving these ambitions depends not only on innovation and investment, but also on understanding what is working well, where improvement is needed, and how progress can be measured.

National clinical audit, in providing independent information about the care patients receive and the outcomes that are achieved, is excellently placed to support this. HQIP commissions two national breast cancer audits as part of the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre (NATCAN): the National Audit of Primary Breast Cancer (NAoPri) and the National Audit of Metastatic Breast Cancer (NAoMe). Together, these audits provide valuable insights across the breast cancer pathway, supporting efforts to improve the quality, consistency, and experience of care.

Visit the Breast Cancer Awareness Month resource hub: Breast Cancer resource hub

I found my own breast lump in 2020, in the middle of lockdown. It was a strange and frightening time, but I felt listened to, supported and well cared for throughout my diagnosis and treatment. Through my own conversations, I know that not everyone has the same experience.

Through my patient involvement work, both within and beyond breast cancer, I have seen how healthcare data can highlight differences and gaps in care. Data can show us where things may be falling short, while patients explain what that actually feels like and what needs to change. When both are taken seriously, care can become safer, fairer and more responsive to the people it is there to support.”

Sharon-Ann Phillips, Founder and Director of Heartbreak to Hope CIC and patient advocate with lived experience of breast cancer

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