The National Cancer Patient Experience Survey 2022 is the twelfth iteration of the survey first undertaken in 2010. It is designed to monitor national progress on experience of cancer care; to provide information to drive local quality improvements; to assist commissioners and providers of cancer care; and to inform the work of the various charities and stakeholder groups supporting cancer patients.

The questionnaire was reviewed in 2021 to reflect changes to cancer services and commitments to cancer care as detailed in the NHS Long Term Plan which is available at www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/online-version/.

The survey was overseen by a National Cancer Patient Experience Advisory Group. This group advises on the principles and objectives of the survey programme and supports questionnaire development.

The survey was commissioned and managed by NHS England. The survey provider, Picker, is responsible for technical design, implementation and analysis of the survey.

The 2022 survey involved 133 NHS trusts. Out of 115,662 people, 61,268 people responded to the survey, yielding a response rate of 53%.

Eligibility

The sample for the survey included all adult (aged 16 and over) NHS patients, with a confirmed primary diagnosis of cancer, discharged from a NHS trust after an inpatient episode or day case attendance for cancer related treatment in the months of April, May and June 2022.

Fieldwork

The fieldwork for the survey was undertaken between November 2022 and February 2023.

Survey methods

The survey used a mixed mode methodology. Questionnaires were sent by post, with two reminders where necessary, but also included an option to complete the questionnaire online.
A Freephone helpline and email were available for respondents to opt out, ask questions about the survey, enable them to complete their questionnaire over the phone and provide access to a translation and interpreting facility for those whose first language was not English.

Note on question comparability

The questionnaire was redeveloped for the 2021 National Cancer Patient Experience Survey.  Comparisons with the 2021 survey can be made. However, comparisons with previous years’ results prior to 2021 should not be made due to significant changes made to the questionnaire since that date.

Scoring methodology

Sixty-one questions from the questionnaire are scored, as these questions relate directly to patient experience. For all but one question (Q59), scores are presented as the percentage of positive responses out of all scored responses.
For Q59, respondents rated their overall care on a scale of 0 to 10, of which the average was calculated for this question’s presented score.
For each scored question, each response option has been identified as either a positive, negative, or neutral response. Scores were calculated using the total number of positive responses as the numerator and the total number of positive and negative responses as the denominator. Neutral scores (e.g., ‘Don’t know / can’t remember’) were excluded from this calculation.

Sub-group comparisons

Sub-group comparisons allow us to explore differences in how people experience cancer care. Some of the groups may be quite small and so caution should be taken when looking at results. See ‘About the Respondents’ for information on the number of responses for sub-groups. For detailed subgroup analysis at a national level, please see the national Excel tables available at www.ncpes.co.uk.

Suppression rules

To protect the identity of respondents, suppression rules have been applied to scores. Where the total number of responses to a question is <11, data for the question are suppressed, indicated by an asterisk (*).
Where the base size for any groups for sub-group comparisons (e.g., a specific diagnostic/cancer group) is <11, data for that sub-group AND the next smallest sub-group are suppressed.

For further detail on additional suppression rules used at alliance, ICS, and trust level, please see the Technical Document available at www.ncpes.co.uk.

The following questions are not published: 1, 4, 10, 11, 30, 40.