Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's Urology Prostate Cancer Diagnostic Pathway Team has received national recognition at the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) Excellence in Clinical Audit Awards 2026.
The team was named Joint Winner of the Evidence into Practice Award, and Joint Runner-up of the Strategic Impact Award for redesigning the Two-Week Wait (2WW) prostate cancer diagnostic pathway to improve the speed and efficiency of diagnosis for patients with suspected prostate cancer.
The project began as a clinical audit that identified delays between outpatient assessment and prostate biopsy. By expanding the role of accredited Nurse Practitioners to independently perform Local Anaesthetic Transperineal (LATP) biopsies, the team increased diagnostic capacity while maintaining high standards of care and governance.
The redesigned pathway has reduced the average time from clinic to biopsy from seven to five days, increased clinic capacity by 33.3%, increased biopsy capacity by 37.5%, and improved Faster Diagnosis Standard performance from 57.6% to 71.6%.
Mark Roland, Chief Medical Officer at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals said: "Congratulations to the team on your well-deserved recognition at the 2026 HQIP Awards. Your work to enhance the prostate cancer diagnostics pathway is making a clear difference for our patients, and it is excellent to see this impact celebrated nationally."
Following the awards, the team was invited to present the project during HQIP's national Clinical Audit Awareness Week 2026, sharing how clinical audit and multidisciplinary collaboration can deliver meaningful improvements in patient care.
The recognition reflects the dedication of the entire multidisciplinary team and their shared commitment to improving the experience of patients referred with suspected prostate cancer.
