Timeliness of the National Cancer Registration Dataset (NCRD)

Data are submitted to the NDRS from a range of healthcare providers and other services (including histopathology and haematology services, systemic ant-cancer therapy and radiotherapy departments, screening services). Following initial registration by a cancer registration officer, a 6-month period is allowed for treatment to occur, the healthcare provider to submit data and the data to be processed. The quality and accuracy of the data are validated and processed to ensure that they are consistent and to a high standard. Once all the expected records for any one incidence year have been received and validated, NDRS takes a snapshot of the dataset, which provides a single, consistent source of cancer registrations. This time lag results in improved data completeness and quality, but it prevents the publication of more timely data. For more information on the NCRD, please see the Data Resource Profile. Once each year of data is assessed as being complete, it is released to produce official statistics and made available for researchers and others to use via the NHSE Data Access and Release Service.  Routine full registration data is normally available around 18-24 months post diagnosis cohort.  The NCRD for 2021 was created from a snapshot taken on 2 September 2023, for the period January to December 2021, and provided to NATCAN in February 2024.

In addition to the NCRD data the NDRS also creates and assures the Rapid Cancer Registration Dataset (RCRD). RCRD contains proxy tumour registrations and some associated events on the cancer patient pathway (e.g. surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy) from January 2018 to the most recently available data on cancer diagnoses. This rapid data set provides a quicker, indicative source of cancer data compared to the National Cancer Registration Data (NCRD), which relies on additional data sources, enhanced follow-up with trusts and expert processing by cancer registration officers. Due to the lower quality of the rapid registration data, the data will not match the eventual Official Statistics published on the full NCRD. Rapid cancer registration data is typically available within 4-5 months post-diagnosis.