Every woman with ovarian cancer deserves the best possible care, no matter where she lives.
The National Ovarian Cancer Audit helps us understand whether that's happening. By collecting information from hospitals across England and Wales, the audit shows where care is improving, where inequalities remain, and where more action is needed.
This isn't just about numbers. Behind every statistic is a woman, a family and a future. The findings help doctors, hospitals, policymakers and charities like Ovarian Cancer Action work together to improve ovarian cancer care for everyone.
What is the National Ovarian Cancer Audit?
The National Ovarian Cancer Audit (NOCA) measures the quality of ovarian cancer care across England and Wales.
It looks at every stage of the patient journey, including:
- how women are diagnosed
- the treatments they receive
- access to specialist surgery and chemotherapy
- survival outcomes
- differences in care between hospitals and regions
By bringing together this information every year, the audit helps identify what's working well and where improvements are still needed.
Most importantly, it allows us to measure whether ovarian cancer care is actually getting better over time.
How the audit improves care
How the audit improves care
↓ Hospitals submit data
Information about ovarian cancer diagnosis and treatment is collected from hospitals across England and Wales.
↓ Care is analysed
Experts identify patterns, variation and opportunities to improve care.
↓ Improvements are recommended
The findings help hospitals, NHS organisations and policymakers understand where action is needed.
↓ Progress is measured
Each year's report shows whether care is improving and where more work is still needed.
Why does the audit matter?
Every woman should have the same opportunity to receive the best possible treatment, wherever she lives.
The audit helps make that possible by highlighting where care differs across the country and where women may not be receiving the treatment they need.
It allows healthcare services to learn from each other, supports national improvement programmes and gives charities like Ovarian Cancer Action the evidence needed to campaign for better care.
Without measuring care, it's difficult to know whether things are improving.
The audit gives us that evidence.
Progress at a glance
This is now the third year of National Ovarian Cancer Audit findings.
Soon, we will begin to see whether ovarian cancer care is changing following the introduction of the audit.
The first National Ovarian Cancer Audit established a national baseline for ovarian cancer care.
For the first time, it showed:
- Around 40% of women were diagnosed following an emergency admission.
- More than one in four women with advanced ovarian cancer received no recorded treatment.
- One in three women did not receive platinum-based chemotherapy, despite it being the standard of care.
- Significant differences existed between hospitals and regions, highlighting inequalities in access to treatment and outcomes.
These findings provided the benchmark against which future improvements could be measured.
Read the findings in full →
The second report built on the original baseline and began identifying priority areas for national improvement.
It highlighted that:
- 40% of women continued to be diagnosed through emergency admission.
- Four in ten women diagnosed through an emergency admission in England received no treatment within three months, prompting the launch of a national Quality Improvement Initiative.
- 26% of women with advanced ovarian cancer had no recorded treatment.
- One in three women did not receive platinum-based chemotherapy, the standard treatment for advanced ovarian cancer.
- Large differences in treatment between hospitals and regions remained, reinforcing concerns about unequal access to care.
Read the 2025 key findings in full →
While there are some encouraging signs, the report shows that significant challenges remain:
- 40% of women in England and 43% in Wales are still diagnosed following an emergency admission, when outcomes are often much poorer.
- Around one in four women with advanced ovarian cancer receive no recorded treatment, with huge variation between Cancer Alliances and Health Boards.
- Only around half of women with advanced ovarian cancer receive surgery, despite it being a vital part of treatment.
- Access to chemotherapy also varies significantly, creating a postcode lottery in care.
- Survival rates continue to differ considerably depending on where women are treated, showing that inequalities remain.
Read the 2026 key findings in full →
What does this mean for patients?
If you or someone you love has ovarian cancer, it can be difficult to read statistics about cancer care.
It's important to remember that the audit looks at national trends across thousands of patients. It cannot predict what will happen to any individual.
Instead, the findings help improve care for future patients by identifying where changes are needed.
The audit helps answer questions like:
- Are women being diagnosed earlier?
- Are they receiving specialist treatment?
- Are outcomes improving?
- Are inequalities reducing?
Every report helps build a clearer picture of where progress is happening and where more action is needed.
Ovarian Cancer Action helped make the audit happen
Long before the National Ovarian Cancer Audit became a national programme, Ovarian Cancer Action recognised that ovarian cancer care couldn't improve unless it was properly measured.
That's why we helped fund the early development of the audit, demonstrating its value before it was adopted as a national programme.
Today, the audit is helping improve ovarian cancer care across England and Wales.
We're proud to have played a role in making that possible. But our work doesn't stop there.
