Outstanding performance from RCHT in the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey

The results of the 2023 National Cancer Patient Experience Survey (NCPES) were released last week. The national results show continuing improvements to those of 2022, with the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust showing outstanding performance in areas of patient care, information and support.

The National Cancer Patient Experience Survey started in 2010 and was designed to monitor progress on cancer care and drive improvements. The survey is run by Picker on behalf of NHS England, and they provide analysis and reports, which are available to the public on the NCPES website.

Nationally, 132 NHS Trusts took part in the 2023 survey, with 63,428 patients responding (giving a response rate of 52%.) The set of questions covers the entire cancer pathway and the different tumour sites.

Speaking about the result for RCHT, Louise Hunt, Cancer Services Manager, said: “The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust continues to perform exceptionally well. A total of 1,678 patients were invited to respond and 1,001 replied, resulting in a 60% response rate.”

“Questions can be above or below expected range and at RCHT we reported 30 questions out of 59 above the expected range and just one below it. There is a question specifically asking for the patient’s average rating of care scored from very poor to very good. RCHT was joint 7th nationally, reporting a rating of 9.1 out of 10 against a national score of 8.9. Only thirteen Trusts had responses from 900+ patients and within this cohort, RCHT was the best scoring provider nationally for this question.”

The only question below the expected range was: ‘Patient was told they could have a family member, carer or friend with them when told diagnosis.’ The national score was 81% with a range of 78%-84% and RCHT reported 75%. This is an improvement from 2021 and 2022.

While the survey has run for several years, there was a big change to the questionnaire in 2021, which meant it could only look at trends over 2021, 2022 and 2023. The 2023 results demonstrate that overall, cancer patients receiving care and treatment, both at RCHT and nationally, continue to report positive experiences of their care across the cancer pathway. Results from the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey are significant as they help to inform changes within cancer services.

“We’re delighted by the positive feedback but acknowledge that there is still more that can be improved,” Louise adds. “The survey highlights areas where improvements can be made. These valuable insights will form a basis for meaningful changes to services so that we can continue to improve on and provide the same high level of patient care. Patient experience of care is incredibly important to all of us at RCHT and it’s a testament to the hard work of colleagues that we’ve seen continued improvements to the level of care we’re able to provide.”

Steve Williamson, Chief Executive for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust said of the result: “Our cancer services teams have worked exceptionally hard to achieve this outstanding result. On behalf of all of us at RCHT, I’d like to say a big thank you to them for the exceptional work they do, and for the huge efforts they have been making to reducing waiting times and to ensuring our patients receive world-class care.”