ENQUIRE - using routine health data to understand equity in cancer care

Half of people in the UK will develop cancer but our outcomes are not as good as those in other similar countries. Outcomes are worse for people from poorer areas but we don’t fully understand why. This could be due to having more advanced cancer at diagnosis, other medical conditions or receiving different care.

Reducing inequalities is a high priority but without understanding what the causes are it is difficult for policymakers to know what to do. We need information that spans the whole cancer pathway and that recognises the cost of doing things differently.  

The ENQUIRE project is a partnership between researchers at the University of Leeds and NDRS that will use routine healthcare data held by NDRS to understand how money is spent on cancer care in the NHS. We will find out what, where and on who money is spent to understand if this is fair for all people with cancer. By taking a health economics perspective and using causal inference methods, we will find out if the differences in spending are leading to worse survival for people from poorer areas. Working with NHS leaders and the public we aim to then find ways to reduce cancer inequalities. This will help to ensure that all patients get the right care and have the best chance of surviving cancer, no matter where they live.

Research Questions

1. Over ten years from diagnosis and within a year of death for four common cancers (lung, bowel, oesophageal and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma), what is spent, how and on whom?
2. Is the way we spend money in cancer care equitable?
3. Does the way we spend money mediate the deprivation gap in cancer survival?

More information about the ENQUIRE project can be found at the University of Leeds website.