Cancer patients rate radiotherapy care at NNUH excellent

A national survey into the experience of patients who have received radiotherapy has rated the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH) as excellent in a number of areas.

The National Radiotherapy Implementation Group (NRIG) commissioned a comprehensive Radiotherapy Patient Experience Survey to gain a greater understanding of how patients who had received radiotherapy during April 2012, felt about their care. The results will be used to help highlight any issues or areas for improvement.

The survey covered questions on consent, written information before radiotherapy, information on the centre’s website, getting to the hospital, the patient’s radiotherapy treatment, support, daily visits, further visits to the clinic and overall care.

In questions covering a patient’s overall care, the NNUH consistently scored highly. When asked:
• Did you feel you were treated as a whole person in the clinic generally? – 95% of respondents said ‘yes all the time’
• Would you be happy to go back to this centre again if you were recommended radiotherapy treatment? – 79% said ‘very happy’ and 16% ‘happy’
• Overall, how would you rate your care? – 73% said ‘excellent’ and 21% said ‘very good’

Consultant Clinical Oncologist and Clinical Director for Oncology and Palliative Care, Dr Tom Roques, said: “Going through cancer treatment is a very difficult time in a person’s life and it’s vital that we do everything we can to make their experience that little bit better. These results are excellent for NNUH and they reassure us that we are supporting people in the best possible way during a challenging time in their lives.”

Tim Cooper, Associate Director for Radiotherapy at the National Cancer Action Team, said: “Overall, the patient experience results from Norfolk and Norwich Radiotherapy Service appear higher than the national average. The team should be proud that their patients value the care they receive and are able to reflect this back to the team in this way. These scores represent both good clinical working; clinical leadership and investment by the Trust”.