Background: Self-reported patient experience data is vital to the design of responsive and relevant health services. Annual cancer patient experience surveys in England (NHS-CPES) have been used to guide improvements in patient experience.
Aim: Measure baseline cancer patient experience in partner hospitals of the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) and benchmark with cancer patients in England.
Methods: The NHS-CPES instrument and methodology was used. A paper-based questionnaire was mailed to 5,722 admitted patients aged >18 years with an eligible ICD-10 code. VCCC respondents were matched with patients in England from the 2011/12 NHS-CPES based on cancer type and age using a 1:5 ratio.
Results: 1,885 patients from VCCC were matched with 9,405 patients in England. 90.8% of patients seen in VCCC hospitals reported ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ overall care compared to 88.2% in England (p=0.001). In both jurisdictions, patients with rarer cancers, females, those aged 35 to 49, or those first treated for cancer 1 to 5 years ago reported the poorest overall experience. Clinical nurse specialists were a key predictor of experience in both countries. Significantly fewer patients were assigned a nurse specialist in the VCCC compared to England (64.0% vs 83.5%, p<0.001). Significantly fewer patients at VCCC hospitals received understandable written information throughout their care continuum compared to England, although significantly more patients in the VCCC received information about financial entitlements (35.4% vs 31.4%, p=0.001). There were no significant jurisdictional differences in emotional support from staff in both in- and out-patient settings.
Conclusions: Cancer patient experience using the NHS-CPES has been successfully compared across two health systems. Key areas for clinical service improvement for both countries have been identified and include the provision of tailored written patient information and the importance of providing named nurse specialists as part of the model of care.