Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals   Improving Care for Patients with Cancer

The results of the 2015 National Cancer Patient Experience Survey have recently been published and reveal positive developments in cancer services at Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The survey was sent to 392 patients and the results show encouraging improvements in many areas.

The national survey is designed to monitor progress in cancer care and to drive quality improvements in hospitals at a local level. It takes into account a number of aspects of cancer patients' experience of care and treatment.

The overall response rate was up with the trust achieving a rate of 71%, 5% above the national average of 66% and a significant increase on the previous year’s survey of 58%. 

Areas highlighted as showing improvements included:

• Patients having a named Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) to contact and ‘ease of contacting CNS’
• Improvements for patients leaving hospital and better reporting regarding home support
• Above national average result for length of time for attending clinics and appointments
• Significant improvement in the area of overall NHS care

Sarah Burton, Ashford and St Peter’s Lead Cancer Clinician said:  “We are very pleased with the survey response as it clearly shows we are listening to our patients. It is their feedback and experience that informs our efforts to improve the care and services we provide. This is a significant step in the right direction but we cannot afford to be complacent, we know there is still a lot of work to do.

“We are committed to further enhancing our cancer services and we will continue to focus on the areas where patients have we said we need to improve  I would like to thank our patients for taking the time to fill out this survey and our dedicated staff for their ongoing efforts to improve our work in this area.”