Information is not available in the format requested. Information is held on the number of urgent referrals for suspected head and neck cancers seen by national health service trusts. The most recent information that is available is for quarter three of the 2007-08 financial year.
The number of urgent referrals for suspected head and neck cancers seen at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust, Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust, Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust, Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in quarter three of the 2007-08 financial year are set out in the following table.
Number of urgent referrals for suspected head and neck cancers seen during quarter three of 2007-08 Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust 177 Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust 99 Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust1 64 Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust2, 3 95 Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust4 120 1 Incorporating the Broomfield hospital, Chelmsford. 2 Incorporating Colchester hospital. 3 Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust became Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust on 1 May 2008. 4 Incorporating Addenbrooke's hospital, Cambridge. Source: Cancer Waiting Time Statistics Quarter three 2007-08
Further information on the number of urgent referrals for suspected head and neck cancers is available on the Department's website at:
www.performance.doh.gov.uk/cancerwaits/
Information on the numbers of procedures that take place at NHS trusts are compiled from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). HES are generated from data submitted by providers of NHS care in England. Healthcare providers collect administrative and clinical information which is then submitted to the Secondary Uses Service (SUS) and saved in a database. At prearranged times during the financial year, SUS takes an extract from its database and submits it to HES where the information is validated before it is released.
The term "head and neck cancer' includes any malignant neoplasm that affects any site or structure on or within the head or neck. Information is held on the numbers of patients who underwent a procedure whose primary diagnosis was a malignant neoplasm of a site or structure on or within the head and neck, however within the data it is not possible to distinguish between a procedure specifically related to the treatment of the cancer and one that is incidental to its treatment.
The number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) where the primary diagnosis is ‘head and neck cancer’ and there is a mention of any procedure in the primary or secondary procedure fields for Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust, Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust, Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust, Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the 2006-07 financial year are set out in the following table.
Total finished consultant episodes1 where the primary diagnosis2 is 'head and neck cancer'3 and there is a mention of any procedure4 in the primary or secondary procedure fields Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 517 Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust 214 Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust5 101 Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust6, 7 117 Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust8 415 Ungrossed Data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed). 1 FCEs A FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. The figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year. 2 The primary diagnosis is the first diagnosis field in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital. 3 The diagnosis classifications used to calculate the total number of head and neck cancer patients undergoing a procedure are as follows: malignant neoplasms of lip; malignant neoplasm of other and unspecified parts of tongue; malignant neoplasm of gum; malignant neoplasm of floor of mouth; malignant neoplasm of palate; malignant neoplasm of other and unspecified parts of mouth; malignant neoplasm of parotid gland; malignant neoplasm of other and unspecified major salivary glands; malignant neoplasm of tonsil; malignant neoplasm of oropharynx; malignant neoplasm of nasopharynx; malignant neoplasm of pyriform sinus; malignant neoplasm of hypopharynx; malignant neoplasm of accessory sinuses; malignant neoplasm of larynx; malignant neoplasm of thyroid gland; malignant neoplasm of other and ill-defined sites in the lip, oral cavity and pharynx: Pharynx, unspecified; malignant neoplasm of other and ill-defined sites in the lip, oral cavity and pharynx: Waldeyer's ring; malignant neoplasm of other and ill-defined sites in the lip, oral cavity and pharynx: Overlapping lesion of lip, oral cavity and pharynx; and secondary and unspecified malignant neoplasm of lymph nodes: Lymph nodes of head, face and neck. 4 These figures represent a count of all finished consultant episodes where the procedure was mentioned in any of the 12 operation fields in a HES record. A record is only included once in each count, even if an operation is mentioned in more than one operation field of the record. 5 Incorporating the Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford. 6 Incorporating Colchester Hospital. 7 Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust became Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust on 1 May 2008. 8 Incorporating Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. Note: Data Quality HES are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. The Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Source: HES, The NH Information Centre for health and social care.