Background: The 2001 UK National Health Service guidance on improving outcomes recommended centralization of oesophageal resection. The aim of this study was to analyse national trends in oesophageal resection in England to determine whether centralization has occurred and its impact on outcomes.
Methods: The study used data from Hospital Episode Statistics for 1997-1998 to 2003-2004 and included patients who had resection for oesophageal cancer. The annual hospital volume was grouped into five categories based on the recommendation for annual volume for a designated centre.
Results: A total of 11 838 oesophageal resections were performed. The total number of hospitals performing resections decreased, mainly owing to a fall in the number of very low-volume hospitals (117 in 1997 to 45 in 2003). The proportion of resections performed in very high-volume hospitals increased from 17.8 per cent during 1997-1999 to 21.9 per cent during 2002-2003 (P < 0.001). The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 10.1 per cent, with a significant reduction over time (from 11.7 to 7.6 per cent; P < 0.001). The decline in mortality rate may be due to increased numbers of patients undergoing surgery in higher-volume hospitals. There was an increase in the annual number of new patients from 5672 to 6230 during the study, although a fall in the proportion of resections from 31.5 to 26.0 per cent (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: Centralization and multidisciplinary team expertise partly explain the improvement in mortality rate, but changes in preoperative selection also play a part.