National Neurosurgical Audit Programme
The National Neurosurgical Audit Programme (NNAP) was established by the Society of British Neurological Surgeons (SBNS) in 2013 as part of a major quality improvement initiative. The programme aims to support neurosurgical units in the UK and Ireland to improve patient care outcomes, safety, and experience by providing high quality, robust audit data that is analysed and presented in a consistent and clinically relevant way.
The assessment of safety and quality within the NHS are becoming increasingly complex, with multiple data sources that complement, compete, and sometimes conflict with one another. Our aim through offering expertise in the analysis of HES data as well as synthesising the data available from other data sets such as NCIP, Model Hospital and our national registries, is to provide context and a deeper understanding.
Meet the Team
Adel Helmy
Hospital and region: Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust
Subspecialties: Skull Base, Neurovascular, Trauma
Role in SBNS council: Chair National Neurosurgical Audit Programme
Term: 2022-2026
Other roles: Training Programme Director (East of England), Associate Professor Neurosurgery (Univesrity of Cambridge), Racial Equality Lead (Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge), PPIE Lead (Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Cambridge Biomedical Research Campus)
I have a long standing interest in clinical data from a research perspective, in particular how it can be used to change practice. We are lucky in neurosurgery to have a small cohesive specialty with a number of high profile audits and registries. NNAP has great potential to contribute to excellent care in the UK.
Adam Williams
Hospital and Region: North Bristol NHS Trust
Adam Williams is a Consultant Neurosurgeon and Clinical Lead at North Bristol NHS Trust, with specialist interests in pituitary surgery and spinal neuromodulation. He is committed to developing and evaluating quality in all its forms — from outcomes and patient experience to sustainable service design.
Adam is Vice Chair of the National Neurosurgical Audit Programme (NNAP) and a Specialist Advisor to the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He is also a member of the Neurosurgery Specialty Advisory Committee (SAC) and serves as a Director of the Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT). His leadership roles span both clinical governance and surgical training, with a particular focus on using data to drive improvement, equity, and transparency in neurosurgical care.
Sobiya Bilal
Hospital and Region: Royal London Hospital, Barts Health NHS
Sobiya is a Neurosurgical Registrar at Royal London Hospital and the current NNAP Clinical Research Fellow. She has a particular interest in neurosurgical outcomes research, quality improvement, and the use of national audit data to enhance patient care and inform service development. Alongside her clinical training in the NHS, she has been actively involved in global neurosurgery through collaborations with international non-governmental organizations, supporting the delivery of surgical care and capacity building in low-resource settings. She is passionate about using high-quality data to improve patient outcomes, reduce variation in care, and support evidence-based improvements in neurosurgical practice.
Daniel Thompson
Hospital and Region: North Bristol NHS Trust
Daniel is a Neurosurgical ST6 in Bristol and currently the Joint NNAP/RCS Clinical Research Fellow and candidate for a PhD in the Cambridge University Clinical Neurosciences department. He has recently been elected as the BNTA SAC rep. Daniel is passionate about how we can effectively leverage big data to evaluate Neurosurgical practice and improve patient experience and outcomes.