Cancer patients in Cheshire and Merseyside have given a nine out of 10 rating to their care – the highest in England for the second year running – and the region is also doing well on other benchmarks of cancer healthcare.
Patient experience of treatment and care is very important to the NHS and each year the service conducts a survey of patients in England for their views.
The National Cancer Patient Experience 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 latest results from the 2023 survey – which involved more than 63,000 responses nationally and around 1,700 from Cheshire and Merseyside – have now been published and show that patients in the area rate their care as 9.01 out of 10, above the England average of 8.89 out of 10 and highest for the second year in a row throughout the country’s cancer alliance regions.
Cheshire and Merseyside scored higher than the expected range in most areas, including:
- 77% of patients said they were always able to get help from ward staff when needed (England average: 73%)
- 85% of patients said they were given enough understandable information about hormone therapy beforehand (England average: 79%).
There were also several areas were Cheshire and Merseyside had significantly improved in its overall performance:
- 80% of patients were told they could have a family member, carer or friend with them when told of a diagnosis (England average: 81%)
- 84% of family and/or carers were definitely involved as much as the patient wanted them to be in decisions about treatment options (England average: 83%)
- 72% of a patient’s family, or someone close, were definitely able to talk to a member of the team looking after the patient in hospital (England average: 70%)
- 66% of a patient’s care team gave family, or someone close, all the information they needed to help care for the patient at home (England average: 62%)
- 48% of patients definitely received the right amount of support from their GP practice during treatment (England average: 46%).
There was one question where Cheshire and Merseyside scored lower than the expected range:
- 63% of patients were offered information about how to get financial help or benefits (England average: 70%). The Cancer Alliance is now looking at how this can be addressed.
Healthcare trusts which provide care to cancer patients across Cheshire and Merseyside value this survey and will be analysing their own results carefully to see how to further improve their treatment and care.
Jon Hayes, Managing Director of Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance (CMCA), said: “The results from this year’s survey make pleasing reading as they show that patients overall are highly satisfied with the care they receive, and also in particular areas.
“However, we know there is work to be done, especially as the pressure on our cancer care services and the professionals who staff them will only rise as more people develop cancer because of our ageing population.
“The Cancer Alliance will be using these findings in our work with NHS trusts across Cheshire and Merseyside to see where we can make improvements.”
Ellie Gunner-Taylor, CMCA Health Inequalities and Patient Experience Officer, said: “Thank you to every patient who took the time to complete the survey. It is so important that we learn from the experiences and views of patients. We would not be able to make improvements across the cancer pathway without their feedback and involvement.”
For more information and to view the full set of results, go to: https://www.ncpes.co.uk/
