Acute Oncology DATA

Covid has taken up so much time that COSD data collection has taken a back seat.

What the NDRAS team did back in April 2020 was extend the COSD data collection start date by 6 months to the 1st October 2020, so that’s the point they are viewing COSD v9 data submissions and completeness from. Having said that,they appreciate the AO dataset is new and significant adjustments have been needed in order to start collecting and collating the data at Trust level, so there is no pressure, just a strong hope that teams are working their way towards being able to submit the data.

The NDRAS team will be scheduling in the addition of some AO reports to the Cancerstats2 portal, in the New Year, to allow the Tier 2 AO data to be viewed by Trusts and Cancer Alliances.  The availability of these reports will be announced in the  COSD Newsletter and on this website.

If you have a Cancerstats2 portal login already, to give you an idea of what the AO Reports will look like, under the COSD menu there are some new Tier 2 LWBC Reports – we plan to present the AO data in a very similar way.

Once the data is available to view, we will start reviewing who is submitting data and will draw up a plan to support those Trusts who appear to be struggling and buddying them up with teams who are doing well so they can share learning and advice.

It will take about 18 months to curate all the COSD data and mix and match with HES, Pathology, DIDs, RTDS, ODS, etc. and once that has been done, there will be an opportunity to use the data for research purposes and statistical analysis – and that’s when we can start using the findings to support a Commissioning paper for submission to the DoH. 

COSD - Acute Oncology Data

You may already be involved in collecting AOS data for local or regional use; the COSD v9 AO data is not intended to replace this and you should continue to collect and report local data based on your established processes.

The purpose of collecting these few pieces of AO data through the COSD is to allow national level analysis on a wide range of diagnostic, care planning and treatment data to see if there are particular trends and predictions that can help shape Outcomes.  

Whilst this analysis will initially use secondary care data, we want to prepare for a future where primary care data is also available to add to the mix.  This will really help us understand how Acute Oncology Services can be shaped in future to support the national cancer agenda and cancer patients.

A note on cancer recurrences

Whilst the COSD has been focused on Primary cancers for the most part, in recent years efforts have been made to encourage the collection of data for patients whose cancer has recurred or progressed – anecdotal evidence shows AOS often see patients on recurrence or progression pathways – a record of these AO encounters within COSD will be invaluable in helping track the rates of recurrence and progression.  

Cancer Outcomes and Services Dataset Version 9 (COSD v9.0)

• COSD data is processed and analysed by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS)

• The COSD data is collated with data from other national datasets;

• These national datasets focus largely on diagnosis and planned care; 

• The unplanned care for these same patients is largely undocumented;

• To redress that, COSD v9.0 contains AO data items;

• These data items will help us understand the level of unplanned care;

• Understanding this activity will help us with future commissioning discussions;

• We expect the first statistical analysis on the AO data to be carried out in 2022.

Guidance

• Of most relevance to you: pages 86 to 93 of the COSD v9 User Guide provide guidance on the AO data items; 

• For information: pages 10 to 16 provide information about the interpretation of Recurrence vs Progression and non-primary pathways;

• The COSD v9 User Guide can be found under the COSD Main Dataset heading 

Key Points about Data Collection and Data Submission

• All NHS Providers of cancer care will already have well established COSD collection and submission processes;

• Most AO teams will already have established data collection processes for local and regional reporting;

• The AO data for COSD is only for patients seen face to face by the AO/AO trained staff;

• Diagnosing and/or Treatment centres with AO teams will generally have active or historic COSD eligible records to which the AO data can be added;

• If the patient does not have an active/historic COSD eligible record, the AO data will need to be made available to the Organisation responsible for creating and submitting the COSD file;

• If a patient already has an active/historic COSD eligible record held by a different Organisation, the AO data will need to be made available to the Organisation responsible for submitting the COSD file;

• We acknowledge that some AO activity cannot be reported via COSD because the patient is confirmed with a non-cancer diagnosis, and COSD is only relevant for diagnosed cancer patients.

Useful links

• Find out the latest information on dataset conformance 

• Cancer Information Tools  

NCRAS support

Any general enquiries that haven’t been answered by the COSD User Guidance can be submitted to COSDenquiries@phe.gov.uk