Pre-treatment MDT discussion

What this data shows:

The proportion of new diagnoses discussed pre-treatment at a multidisciplinary team meeting (MDT)

How the data is gathered:

Discussion of the diagnosis and management of head and neck cancer at a multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting is considered a standard of care and all new cases should be discussed. This is a Peer Review standard.

For some surgical pathways diagnosis and treatment coincide.

The information has been derived from the National Head and Neck Cancer Audit (DAHNO) based on date of multidisciplinary team (MDT) discussion and date of surgery supplemented by surgeon entry.

99.9 % of cases having major surgery have pre-treatment discussed at MDT status recorded.

For a small number of cases a surgeon code could not be allocated to a case and therefore the results total for a unit may differ from the contributions of individual surgeons’ cases.

Some surgeons have performed major surgery at more than one trust or have moved organisation during the audit period.

When the data is shown:

For many surgical cases following initial biopsy the care pathway proceeds to discussion at multidisciplinary team (MDT) and the standard can be met. For some surgical pathways however diagnosis and treatment coincide and in these cases MDT discussion will follow major surgery and thus it will not be possible to meet this standard.

Data Source:

Data collected from hospitals in England through the National Head and Neck Cancer Surgeon Level Reporting (DAHNO SLR) and National Head and Neck Cancer Audit (DAHNO).

Data Period:

Annual

Data Supplier:

Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC); British Association of Head and Neck Oncologists (BAHNO).

Further Information:

Find out more about the National Head and Neck Cancer Audit