National Cardiac Audit Programme
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The 2026 interim summary reports from the National Cardiac Audit Programme (NCAP) have been published (18/6), including analysis of submissions between 1 April – 30 September 2025 (i.e. Q1 and Q2 for the 2025/26 financial year).
Some hospitals are not complying with the data submission requirements of the NCAP
We commend the work of all those who have submitted data on many thousands of hospital episodes, but some hospitals are not complying with the commissioner requirements for complete and frequent data submissions. Where possible we have identified hospitals that have submitted no data, but our analyses suggest that some hospitals have not yet submitted all cases they treated between April and September 2025.
Overall, the data submissions for some domains are around 85-90% of those expected for the period. This raises the possibility of an inclusion bias when examining performance metrics, and this must be kept in mind when interpreting the results. For the newer structural heart disease procedure registries, some hospitals have still not registered with NICOR for their data submissions and so their activity and clinical performance cannot yet be reported.
A more complete analysis will be available with our next report on the full 2025/26 financial year.
Highlights from each clinical domain of the NCAP
A detailed update is available on each clinical domain page and by viewing the interactive interim summary reports.
- Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project (MINAP): marginal improvements in treatment times for patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction but high rates of self-presentation to hospital
- National Audit of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (NAPCI): some additional use of intracoronary imaging in complex cases has been observed but the UK falls behind international guidelines on the use of newer P2Y12 antiplatelet drugs
- National Adult Cardiac Surgery Audit (NACSA): waiting times for elective cardiac surgery have fallen over the last year
- UK Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) Registry: urgent cases represent a sicker cohort of patients to those treated electively and have worse outcomes
- National Congenital Heart Disease Audit (NCHDA): hospitals performing percutaneous interventions should provide complete and timely data
- National Heart Failure Audit (NHFA): most patients with heart failure were treated according to guidelines but not in all hospitals
- National Audit of Cardiac Rhythm Management (NACRM): incomplete data on cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) but a further growth in ablation for atrial fibrillation
- Transcatheter Mitral and Tricuspid Valve (TMTV) Registry: most commissioned hospitals are now submitting data but data quality from some hospitals needs to improve
- Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion (LAAO) Registry: more cases have been submitted but not all hospitals offering this treatment have registered
- Patent Foramen Ovale Closure (PFOC) Registry: 750 new cases thus far in 2025/26 with very few complications but there are notable variations in how the procedures are performed