Cancer Incidence, mortality and survival
Cancer is not one single disease, but describes a process that begins with a series of cell changes. There are more than 200 different types of cancer. In Ireland, the most common types of cancer are prostate, colorectal and lung cancers for males, and breast, colorectal and lung cancers for females.
We monitor the incidence, mortality and survival patterns of cancer in Ireland using data and reports from the National Cancer Registry, Ireland as well as statistics from the Central Statistics Office and the Public Health Information System. These data also gives us information on trends over time, place (by HSE area or county) and person (by age group or sex).
The National Cancer Registry publishes data and reports on cancer incidence and prevalence. For more information, visit the National Cancer Registry's website, www.ncri.ie.
Key Performance Indicators
Good information is essential to the delivery of good health services. Performance measures or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are one mechanism of measuring quality. Such measures enable the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) to assess services, to make comparisons between centres and identify areas for improvement as well as sharing good practice. KPIs are often described as the percentage of patients who received care in a particular way or within a particular timeframe.
KPIs are regularly reviewed to ensure that they still provide useful information. New KPIs are only added if their benefits clearly outweigh any data collection challenges and costs.
