The CASCADE Project

People with cancer, treated for cancer, or have been recently treated for cancer are at a higher risk of becoming rapidly unwell. This is referred to as an oncological emergency and can be life-threatening.

The investigators want to see if a new, standardised assessment of acute oncology knowledge and skills of all health care staff (The Acute Oncology Passport) following education and training, has an effect on the diagnosis and treatment of two relatively-common oncological emergencies: sepsis and MSCC? Sepsis is blood poisoning, which causes serious injuries if it is not diagnosed and treated as an emergency and may result in death if not treated quickly enough. MSCC is metastatic spinal cord compression, where the cancer presses on the spinal cord and can cause permanent paralysis. The investigators have chosen these two conditions, not only because of how serious and relatively common they are for people living with cancer, but also because all NHS Trusts in the UK routinely collect and report standardised data about patients who are admitted with suspected sepsis or MSCC.

The investigators plan to compare data that is routinely collected about the diagnosis and treatment of patients with suspected sepsis and MSCC before and after education, training and assessment of staff about acute oncology. The investigators will conduct 'secondary analysis' on the data, as it was originally collected for another purpose. The routinely data collected at five hospital Trusts across the UK from 1st April 2023 to 30th June 2023 and 1st October to 31st December 2023 will be included in this study.

This research is part of a larger UK-wide project, funded until March 2024 by NHS England Workforce, Training and Education Directorate. If acute oncology education, training and assessment of staff is shown to make a difference to patient diagnosis and treatment, the Acute Oncology Passports will be rolled-out nationally.