The National Oesophago-Gastric Cancer Audit (NOGCA) evaluates the quality of care for patients with oesophago-gastric (OG) cancer in England and Wales.

It looks at three types of cancer that occur in:

• The oesophagus – the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach
• The gastro-oesophageal junction (GOJ) – the point where the oesophagus joins the stomach
• The stomach – the organ that helps to digest swallowed food

(Cancers of the oesophagus or GOJ are often referred to as oesophageal cancer).

The audit provides information that enables NHS cancer services to compare their performance and to identify areas of care that could be improved. Since 2012, the audit has also included patients with high grade dysplasia (HGD) of the oesophagus, which is a condition that increases a person’s risk of developing cancer.

In December 2020, the audit published its 12th annual report which is available at: www.nogca.org.uk/reports/2020-annual-report/

A summary report has recently been published, aimed at patients, family members and carers to highlight key findings from the annual report, including links to relevant sections of the annual report. The 2020 annual report focuses on patients diagnosed between April 2017 and March 2019, and therefore reflects care before the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. While the pandemic means that some aspects of care will have been disrupted, cancer services are a priority for the NHS and the basic care pathway will remain similar for many patients.