Quality standard

This quality standard covers assessing, diagnosing and managing head and neck cancer, including cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract in people aged 16 and over. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement.

 We’ve produced a guideline on the delivery of systemic anticancer treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is relevant to statement 4 in this quality standard and may help to support using the quality standard.

How to use NICE quality standards and how we develop them

Quality standards help you improve the quality of care you provide or commission. They apply in England and Wales (see the UK government website and Welsh government website). Decisions on how they apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland are made by ministers in the Scottish government and Northern Ireland Executive.

Find out how to use quality standards and how we develop them. We check our quality standards every August to make sure they are up to date.