How will COVID-19 impact NBOCA reporting?
Data on colorectal cancer outcomes during COVID-19 and the recovery phase will not be used for benchmarking of providers.
The patient cohort included in the 2020 annual report pre-dates the pandemic and so the results within the 2020 annual report were unaffected. However, due to pressures on providers during the initial phase of the pandemic we were unable to do our usual data checking process, and this is why there is more incomplete data for this reporting period than we would usually expect.
The 2021 report included patients diagnosed primarily between 01 April 2019 and 31 March 2020. Major resections up to 31 March 2020 were included in order to avoid the impact of the pandemic. Patients diagnosed before 31 March 2020 and undergoing major resection after this date were included in the 2022 report. The pandemic had started to have an impact during the period in the 2021 report.
The 2022 report included patients diagnosed between 01 April 2020 and 31 March 2021, and patients diagnosed between 01 April 2019 and 31 March 2020 who underwent a major resection after 31 March 2020. All of these patients were diagnosed and/or treated during the COVID-19 pandemic and their outcomes are not outlier-reported. The only outcome that is outlier-reported in the 2022 report is 2-year all-cause mortality after major resection because it includes patients having surgery before the pandemic.
The 2023 State of the Nation report includes patients diagnosed between 01 April 2021 and 31 March 2022. These patients were diagnosed during the COVID-19 pandemic and their outcomes are not outlier-reported. The only outcome that is outlier-reported in the 2023 report is 2-year all-cause mortality after major resection because it includes patients having surgery before the pandemic.
What is the deadline for making queries about the data reported about my trust in the State of the Nation report?
Following publication of the report, queries about data reported in the annual report will be answered until the end of June 2024. NBOCA is not able to provide individual hospitals with details of the patients included in their results following publication of the report.
Please note that NBOCA no longer collects its own data. The Clinical Audit Platform system has now been closed and for patients diagnosed from 1 April 2022, NBOCA uses existing data sources.