In preparation for a national roll out in October 2023, the HDI development team has been hard at work developing the Post Endoscopy Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer (PEUGIC) portal. This portal has been added to the NDRS Clinical Audit System developed by HDI which also contains the Post-Colonoscopy Colorectal Cancer audit. Access to the PEUGIC portal will be given to each NHS endoscopy unit in England and will contain details on their PEUGIC cases (patients diagnosed with an upper gastrointestinal cancer which underwent an endoscopy 3-36 months prior to cancer diagnosis). Each endoscopy unit will be asked to complete a root cause analysis form which has questions about the endoscopy performed 3-36 months prior to the cancer diagnosis. Through analysis of data collected in the root cause analysis form, the PEUGIC project aims to address the rising concern of PEUGIC as results from the data analysis will identify areas for quality improvement in endoscopy procedures.
19 gastroenterologists from 13 NHS endoscopy units spanning across the 7 NHS regions are currently piloting the PEUGIC portal. This group of stakeholders will rigorously test the system to ensure its functionality and effectiveness, allowing the development team time to implement any necessary improvements prior to national roll out. Additionally, pilot users will provide valuable feedback on the root cause analysis form, ensuring that only relevant data are collected for the project’s objectives.
By August 2023, each participating organisation will review up to 25 cases using the PEUGIC root cause analysis form. The data gathered from these 305 cases will be anonymized, pooled, and analysed, providing initial insights into the primary causes of PEUGIC. These preliminary findings will be presented to all NHS endoscopy units to emphasize the significance of national participation in the upcoming October roll out.
