Patient experience

Ensuring people have the best possible experience of care

Everyone should be treated with care and compassion. It is fundamental that patients are an equal partner in their care from the moment they share their concerns and potential symptoms of cancer with their GP, through diagnosis, treatment and the journey they may have living with cancer.

Patients and their carers are at the centre of the healthcare process. Unlike the majority of healthcare workers, they observe the whole pathway of their care. This means they can provide invaluable insights into the delivery and quality of healthcare provision.

What is the Transforming Cancer Services Team doing to improve patient experience?

The Transforming Cancer Services Team:

  • provides support to the London Patient Advisory Group – a forum which enables those who provide cancer services to hear from people who need these services.
  • enables service users to share their insight and experiences.
  • publishes annual analysis of the results of the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey for each London Integrated Care System, Cancer Alliance and hospital. This helps people understand the cancer patient experience in their locality.

London Cancer Patient Advisory Group

TCST provides management support and the secretariat function to the London Patient Advisory Group (PAG). A key function of the PAG is to enable people who provide cancer services to hear from people who need these services. The group is made up of a diverse group of cancer service users from across London. Through its members, PAG uses its knowledge to promote the needs of Londoners and advocate improvements in quality, outcomes and best value. PAG supports the development of London’s cancer services and the delivery of safe, sustainable, high quality care. The Group reports directly to the Cancer Transformation and Improvement Board for London – the main governance body of London’s cancer system.

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Patient Voices

To enable people providing cancer services to hear from people who need these services, PAG members have shared their insight and experiences of the services and care they have received during their cancer journey. They have been open in discussing the impact their experiences have had on them and have shared their views on how they could be improved moving forward.

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National Cancer Patient Experience Survey

The National Cancer Patient Experience Survey (NCPES) is an important part of the national NHS Cancer Programme, which places patient experience on a par with clinical effectiveness and safety as a key strategic priority. It has been designed to monitor progress on cancer care, to drive local quality improvements, to assist commissioners and providers of cancer care and to inform the work of various charities and stakeholder groups supporting cancer patients.

The survey is overseen by a national Cancer Patient Experience Advisory Group. This Advisory group set the principles and objectives of the survey programme and guide questionnaire development. The service is commissioned and managed by NHS England. The implementation, analyses and reporting is completed by Picker.

The 2022 survey was sent to all NHS patients aged 16 and over who had received a confirmed primary diagnosis of cancer or been discharged from an NHS Trust after an inpatient episode or day case attendance for cancer-related treatment in April, May and June 2022.

TCST published an analysis of the results from the 2022 National Cancer Patient Experience Survey in the form of an interactive dashboard for the London region, each London Integrated Care System, Cancer Alliance and hospital to help improve cancer care for patients.

Links to Data Dashboards.

The dashboard enables commissioners, clinical leaders and the public understand the cancer patient experience in their locality by reviewing the patient experience data alongside the qualitative analysis.

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National Cancer Patient Experience Survey and Ethnicity Analysis

TCST has undertaken analysis of the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey results and compared responses from:

  • London BAME cancer patient experience with London White cancer patient experience.
  • London BAME cancer patient experience with England BAME cancer patient experience.

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Under 16 National Cancer Patient Experience Survey

Improving cancer care for children and young people is a key commitment in the NHS Long Term Plan. The National Cancer Patient Experience Survey (NCPES) for children under 16 years of age is a new national initiative to gather feedback from children and young people on the care and treatment they received. This will help understand what is good about children’s cancer care and identify how improvements can be made.

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Survey Dashboards