Summary
This metric estimates the proportion of all malignant cancers where patients first presented to the health system as an emergency. This latest publication has been updated to include quarterly data for January to March, April to June and July to September 2022 (quarter 4 of financial year 2021 to 2022 and quarters 1 and 2 of financial year 2022 to 2023) and an update of the one-year rolling proportion.
Key Facts
The number of cancer presentations were higher than pre-Covid levels
The total number of cancer patients first seen as an inpatient in hospital in England increased from 69,423 in January to March 2022 to 71,589 in July to September 2022. For these three quarters, the number of cancer patients were significantly higher than pre-Covid levels.
The number of emergency presentations returned to or was lower than pre-Covid levels for the last two quarters
The total number of emergency presentations in England decreased from 13,673 in January to March 2022 to 13,193 in July to September 2022. In comparison with pre-Covid levels, the number of cancer patients was significantly higher for January to March, not significantly different for April to June, and significantly lower for July to September in 2022 compared to 2019.
The proportion of new cancer patients presenting as an emergency presentation returned to or was lower than pre-Covid levels for the last two quarters
The proportion of emergency presentations in England decreased from 19.7% in January to March 2022 to 18.4% in January to March 2022. In comparison with pre-Covid levels, the proportion of new cancer patients presenting as an emergency was significantly higher for January to March, not significantly different for April to June, and significantly lower for July to September in 2022 compared to 2019.
The 1-year rolling proportion of new cancer patients presenting as an emergency returned to pre-Covid levels for most sub-ICBs
Between October 2018 to September 2019 and October 2021 to September 2022, the 1-year rolling proportion did not change significantly for 87 sub-ICBs, significantly increased for 9 sub-ICBs and significantly decreased for 10 sub-ICBs.
Acknowledgements
This work uses data that has been provided by patients and collected by the NHS as part of their care and support. The data are collated, maintained and quality assured by the National Disease Registration Service, which is part of NHS England.
What's changed in the release
Previous published metrics used the HES-APC data hosted by the UK Health Security Agency (formerly known as Public Health England). This metric now uses the NHSE NDRS monthly HES-APC data on cancer patients. The counts and proportions based on the data from these two sources were compared. The findings showed some minor differences, these are reported in the PDF document below: Proxy emergency presentations metric - Methodology and Comparison of results using the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) Cancer Analysis System (CAS) Hospital Episodes Admitted Patient Care (HES-APC) and Datalake HES-APC data.
Last edited: 25 May 2023 9:31 am