How DHCW is improving care for cancer patients across Wales

04 February 2026

For World Cancer Day 2026, we’re highlighting how the DHCW cancer information team are helping improve cancer care for people across Wales.

The DHCW cancer information team has created a range of digital tools that make cancer data easier to collect, understand and use. The dashboards present information in a clear and accessible way, enabling users to quickly identify and correct missing or inaccurate data. This ensures that clinicians and coordinators have access to the most reliable records when supporting patients.

This improved information feeds into national reporting through data flows to the National Cancer Registry for Wales within the Welsh Cancer Intelligence & Surveillance Unit, and via the Welsh Cancer Network to the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre for audit purposes.

The team also provides Specialist Palliative Care dashboards, which give clinicians and service leads instant access to key information about patients receiving palliative care, whether they have cancer or another condition. These tools help show how palliative care services make a difference and support continuous improvement.

This year, the team developed a dashboard to explore variation in the use of Symptomatic Faecal Immunochemical Testing (S-FIT) - a non-invasive diagnostic tool used to detect traces of blood in stool which may indicate bowel cancer - across Wales and to examine its impact on diagnostic pathways for colorectal cancer, the second most common cancer in Wales. This work supports a better understanding of service variation and helps inform improvement efforts.