Publish date: 13 July 2022
Feedback from people who have experienced cancer care and treatment is an important part of improving services.
It helps the NHS to know what is working well and what needs to be improved, making things better for everyone.
Each year, NHS England and NHS Improvement run a large survey, the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey, to find out more about people’s experiences of cancer services.
The survey asks questions such as how and when a patient’s cancer was diagnosed, how involved they felt in decisions about their care and treatment and how much information they were given.
There are also questions about how patients felt they were treated and how much support they were given by other NHS or social services.
The results of the 2021 survey – which involved almost 60,000 responses – have now been published and show that patients in Cheshire and Merseyside rate their care as 9.1 out of 10, above the England average of 8.9 out of 10.
Cheshire and Merseyside also scored higher than the expected range in several areas, including:
83% of patients said their diagnostic tests results were explained in a way they could completely understand (England average: 79%).
79% of patients thought their diagnosis was explained in a way that they could completely understand (England average: 76%).
94% of patients had a main point of contact within the care team (England average: 92%).
76% of patients felt they were always involved in decisions about their care and treatment while in hospital (England average: 70%).
80% of patients were always able to get help from ward staff when needed (England average: 76%).
72% of patients were always able to discuss worries and fears with hospital staff (England average: 67%).
91% of patients said they had received enough understandable information about their surgery before the procedure (England average: 89%).
37% of patients could definitely get enough emotional support at home from community or voluntary services after treatment (England average: 32%).
There were no questions where Cheshire and Merseyside scored lower than the expected range.
Ellie Gunner-Taylor, Macmillan Quality Improvement Officer (Patient Experience and Health Inequalities), at Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance, said: “These findings are really encouraging but the Alliance and the hospital trusts across the region, will use the results to learn from the experiences and views of patients, and to make any improvements in order to provide them with the best possible care and experience.”
For more information and to view the full set of results, go to: https://www.ncpes.co.uk/