This page contains information on surgical volumes, 30- and 90-day postoperative mortality and length of stay for NHS trusts and for individual surgeons.  The information was derived from data on patients diagnosed with oesophageal or stomach cancer and who had a surgical procedure to remove their tumour.  If information on outcomes published in previous years is required, please contact og.cancer@nhs.net

Surgery for patients with oesophageal or stomach cancer is organised on a regional basis, with patients typically having surgery in specialist cancer centres. The information by NHS trust reflects the outcomes of the multidisciplinary teams at these centres.

When interpreting the outcomes, it is important to remember that rates can be based on a small number of operations and, consequently, may not be very precise estimates due to the influence of random events.  For example, although the underlying risk of an operation may be 3%, surgeons who perform just 10 operations could have observed mortality rates of 0%, 10%, etc. Therefore, higher than average rates based on small volumes do not automatically mean that performance is worse. Funnel plots consider the impact of volume on surgical outcomes and were used to investigate whether any specialist cancer centres or consultant surgeons had an unexpected pattern of outcomes.

To ensure accuracy, the Audit used mortality data reported by the surgeons and from the Office for National Statistics.  The figures on this website were reviewed and verified by both NHS trusts and individual surgeons prior to publication.

Considerable care should be taken in making comparisons between centres and surgeons on the basis of the figures reported here because outcomes may vary due to random variation and patient characteristics that were not accounted for in the risk adjustment model.

The total number of cases in a trust may not be equal to the total of the cases performed by all the surgeons working in the trust. This is because in the case of dual surgery, the operation is allocated to both surgeons and the patient is counted twice. A surgeon’s affiliation is the NHS trust where he/she operated on the patient with the most recent diagnosis.

We recommend that patients discuss the likely outcomes of their treatment with their surgeon before an operation, so that they can understand the expected outcomes given their own circumstances. Please note that all surgeons consented to have their data published, but we do not publish information on retired surgeons as it will not have any value for patients.

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this section.  AUGIS does not accept any liability arising from errors or omissions, or the use of, or reliance on, the information contained in this website and reserve the right to change the information and descriptions when required.

We feel that patients will want to be able to find out about their condition, find a centre that specialises in that condition and get some information about the consultant surgeon who would perform their surgery. We also understand that patients may be interested in the results of surgery by specific NHS trusts and surgeons. We have therefore published mortality rates for NHS trusts and surgeons, together with information on the number of cases performed and the median length of stay.