Dr Anita Donley, clinical vice president of the RCP, supports the review from the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation (RCLCF), published today, highlighting how vitally important the audit is to developing the care for patients with lung cancer:
Lung cancer is a serious condition, with over 40,000 cases seen each year. The RCP believes audit can make a real difference in the care delivered to patients with lung cancer across the country and we support the RCLCF’s call for the National Lung Cancer Audit (NLCA) to continue.
The wealth of data that is accumulated by the audit is vitally important for all aspects of planning, commissioning and delivering lung cancer care in the UK. For example, the NLCA’s data is used to inform clinical pathways for patients, it shapes important guidance (for example from NICE) for doctors and healthcare professionals, and contributes to the development of indicators for CCGs.
The RCP is a partner in the Improving Lung Cancer Outcomes Project (ILCOP), the quality improvement work that is part of NLCA, and we look forward to continuing to work in this area, to refine and develop the approach. In particular, we are keen to make sure the outputs from the audit are readily available and accessible to patients with lung cancer and their relatives.
Copies of the review are available from the RCLCF website.