Whither surgical quality assurance of breast cancer surgery (surgical margins and local recurrence) after paterson

This article assesses whether Kennedy ’s recommendations apply to the UK as a whole and how to address these issues. New GMC advice on consent and newer nonevidenced innovations in immediate reconstruction have altered the level of informed consent required. Patients deserve a better understanding of the issues of oncological versus c osmetic outcomes on which to base their decisions. Involvement of the whole multidisciplinary team including Oncologists is necessary in surgical planning. Failure to obtain clear microscopic margins at mastectomy leads to an increased local recurrence, yet has received little attention in the UK. W hereas, other countries have used surgical quality assurance audits to reduce local recurrence; local recurrence rates are not available and the extent of variation across the UK in margin involvement after surgery, its management and relationship to local recurrence needs auditing prospectively to reduce unnecessary morbidity. To reassure public, patients and the NHS management, an accreditation system with more rigour than NHSBSP QA and peer review is now required. Resource and efforts to support its introduction will be necessary from the Royal College of Surgeons and the Association of Bre ast Surgeons. New innovations require careful evaluation before their backdoor introduction to the NHS. Private Hospitals need to have the same standards imposed.
Source: Breast Cancer Research and Treatment - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: research