People With Urgent General Practitioner Referral Having First Definitive Treatment for Cancer Within 62 Days

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Care Transitions
Country
United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man
Publishing Organisation
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): Clinical commissioning group indicators
Type of Quality Indicator
Process
IOM Quality Dimension
Timeliness
Domain
Access / Waiting Times

Defining Attributes

Definition

Proportion of people who were treated following an urgent general practitioner (GP) referral for suspected cancer, who began their first definitive treatment within 62 days of referral.

Numerator

Number of people with an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer who received first treatment in the quarter and where the referral to first treatment is within 62 days, by Clinical Commissioning Group.

Denominator

The total number of people receiving first treatment for cancer within the quarter, who have had an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer, by Clinical Commissioning Group.

Exclusions

Patients not recorded as beginning treatment, including patients who are found not to have cancer in the diagnostic test that follows the urgent referral, and patients who go directly onto a palliative pathway and receive either a palliative intervention (such as stenting) or palliative care (e.g. pain relief), patients with non-invasive cancers.

Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments
Stratifications

Data Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Administrative data
Data Collection Methods

Cancer Waiting Times Database (CWT-Db) allows NHS providers to record data derived from patient care activity. As a patient moves through the stages of their treatment pathway data on referrals, treatments and diagnosis are derived from care records locally.

Frequency of Data Collection
Monthly
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
30
Reporting Methods

NHS England Monthly Provider Cancer Waiting Times Statistics and Public Health Scotland website report: Cancer Waiting Times in NHS Scotland.

Reporting Frequency
Quarterly
Reporting Frequency in Days
91
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
Yes

Source and Reference Attributes

Technical Specifications
Link to Measurement Tools
Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
Yes
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
No
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
12 March 2025