The National Bowel Cancer Audit (NBOCA), part of the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre (NATCAN), has published an audit of care received by people diagnosed with, or undergoing surgery for, bowel cancer in England and Wales in 2023.
There is substantial variation between trusts and multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) in the receipt of neo-adjuvant radiotherapy for patients with rectal cancer
This report finds that the proportion of people diagnosed with stage 1 or 2 bowel cancer in England and Wales has gradually increased, from 39% in 2019 to 42% in 2023. Although this upward trend is encouraging, it underscores that substantial progress is required, given the NHS Long Term Plan target of 75% of people with cancer being diagnosed with stage 1 or 2 disease by 2028.
Encouragingly, peri-operative outcomes continue to improve. 90-day postoperative mortality has decreased – falling from 3.1% in 2019 to 2.5% in 2023. A similar trend was observed for 2-year survival after surgery, which increased from 82.3% in 2020/21 to 84.9% in 2021/22.
The findings of this report are intended to guide improvements in service delivery and patient outcomes, and can serve as a resource for patient charities and support groups. It also demonstrates examples of best practice at a provider-level, which presents opportunities to learn and share these best practice achievements.
Read the full report: You can view the report by clicking the button below.
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More information: For further information and related reports, go to the programme page on this website.
