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Study supports proforma radiology reports for cancer staging

The introduction of national proforma radiology reporting would significantly improve cancer staging reports and enable objective comparisons of patient outcomes across centres, according to new research published in BMJ Open.

The prospective interventional study comparing the completeness of radiology cancer staging reports before and after the introduction of proforma reporting for 6 common cancers across 21 NHS hospitals.

Electronic proforma-based reporting was successfully implemented in 15 of the 21 centres during the evaluation period. A total of 787 pre-proforma and 496 post-proforma staging reports were evaluated.

In the pre-proforma group, only 48.7% of key staging items were present compared with 87.3% in the post-proforma group. The figures translate to a 78% improvement in staging completeness with the introduction of proforma reporting.

End-user feedback was received from 35 multidisciplinary team participants across 7 centres, including surgeons, medical and clinical oncologists and nurse specialists. Approximately 77% found proforma reports contributed positively to cancer staging, while 77% and 80% agreed the initiative improved MDT efficiency and data collection, respectively. However, 43% felt proforma reports had no impact on diagnosis.

Feedback from 32 lead radiologists showed 81% respondents found it a worthwhile exercise and 50% felt proforma reporting improved the quality of their reports, whereas 16% respondents did not feel it improved quality and 34% were neutral.

The project was jointly initiated by the Royal College of Radiologists and the National Cancer Intelligence Network and was designed in consultation with representatives from the Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Royal College of Pathologists.


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