National Congenital Heart Disease Audit (NCHDA)

The National Congenital Heart Disease Audit (NCHDA) collects data to assess patient outcomes after therapeutic paediatric and congenital cardiovascular procedures (surgery, transcatheter and electrophysiological interventions) at all NHS hospitals and a selection of private hospitals throughout the UK and the Republic of Ireland as well as the success of antenatal screening.

What is Congenital Heart Disease?

Congenital heart disease (CHD) refers to any malformation or disease of the heart present from birth and includes structural defects, congenital arrhythmias, and some cardiomyopathies. About 1% of babies are born with a heart or circulatory condition, usually a congenital heart malformation.

Congenital heart problems range from simple to complex. Some heart problems can be watched and managed with medicines, while others will require heart surgery or transcatheter intervention (keyhole techniques) – sometimes as soon as in the first few hours after birth. Survival and medical care for babies with critical CHD has dramatically improved over the past few years due to advances in diagnostic and treatment techniques including identifying cardiac malformations before birth referred to as antenatal diagnosis.

National Congenital Heart Disease Audit (NCHDA)

The audit aims to provide key quality improvements in outcomes and service delivery for infants, children, adolescents and adults undergoing interventions for paediatric and congenital heart disease. The 2026 Interim Summary NCHDA report covers the data between 1 April to 30 September 2025. The background and history of the NCHDA, including methodology, analytical scope, validation and risk adjustment, is detailed on the British Congenital Cardiac Association (BCCA) website. Hospital level data are to be found in the interactive version.

2026 Interim Summary Report Key findings:

National Congenital Heart Disease Audit (NCHDA): hospitals performing percutaneous interventions should provide complete and timely data. Submissions to the NCHDA were lower than expected for percutaneous interventional treatments and pacemaker and electrophysiological procedures, whereas submission numbers for surgical procedures were nearer to those expected. The full range of performance metrics will be made available in the full annual report to be published later this year.

Data sets and user guides are available in the Data Sets section. Previous reports for National Congenital Heart Disease Audit (NCHDA) are available to download via the Previous reports page.

Previous reports for National Congenital Heart Disease Audit (NCHDA) are available to download via the Previous reports page.

Clinical lead: Dr Abbas Khushnood

Contact email: nicor.auditenquiries@nhs.net