The relevance of clinical audit results to commissioning services

The Association of Breast Surgery at the British Association of Surgical Oncology audit of screen-detected breast cancers is a clinical audit that monitors diagnosis and treatment outcome data for screen-detected breast cancer against National Health Service (NHS) Breast Screening Programme standards. The audit is used to identify achievement of and failure to meet the standards by screening services and to direct appropriate recommendations and actions.

This valuable data resource is unfamiliar to many NHS organisations responsible for commissioning breast cancer services such as Primary Care Trusts, Strategic Health Authorities and Cancer Networks. To make the audit more accessible to these organisations a Key Outcomes booklet was produced for each West Midlands screening service, which aimed to present the findings that are most relevant to commissioners. Results were related to relevant government targets in the NHS Cancer Plan (2000) and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence publication Improving Outcomes in Breast Cancer (2002).

Production of the Key Outcomes booklet enabled the Association of Breast Surgery at the British Association of Surgical Oncology audit results to reach a wider, more generalised audience, while the focus on individual screening services allowed a more in-depth analysis of the audit results tailored to areas of particular interest.