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National Cancer Survivorship Initiative

Cancer Patient Experience Survey Results

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011

In December 2010, The Department of Health released the results of their Cancer Patient Experience Survey, looking at the quality of care received by cancer patients across England, as reported by the patients themselves.

The survey gathered responses from over 67,000 cancer patients being treated for any type of cancer in the first three months of 2010.  The survey asked patients to rate many aspects of their care through answering 74 multiple choice questions.

Although experience differed by patient location, tumour type and length of time since initial diagnosis, the results showed both some positive findings and some areas for improvement, including:

Positive Results

  • 84% of patients were given the name of the Clinical Nurse Specialist in charge of their care
  • 82% of patients considered they were given clear information about what they should or should not do after leaving hospital

Areas for Improvement

  • Only 66% of patients reported being given easy to understand information about their type of cancer
  • Only 50% of patients said hospital staff gave them information about financial help and benefits

To read the full report, please visit the Department of Health’s website.