Cancer services rated highly by patients in national survey

Published: 11 July 2022

Cancer services at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust have been rated highly by local adults in the 2021 National Cancer Patient Experience Survey.

The survey, overseen by a national Cancer Patient Experience Advisory Group, and commissioned and managed by NHS England, involved 134 NHS Trusts and had a national response rate of 55%.

535 people with a confirmed primary diagnosis of cancer, who received cancer related treatment from Torbay and South Devon between April and June 2021 gave feedback on the care provided. This was a 63% response rate, which was higher than the national average.

Feedback from local people was very positive with overall care rated at 9.03/10 which placed the organisation 35th out of 134 trusts. The level of involvement patients had in decisions about their treatment and the support and information available to patients and their families were highlighted in particular as great examples of care.

In no areas did the services score below the expected score, however, services are always seeking to improve and will be putting in place local action plans.

Manpreet Singh, Director of Cancer Services at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Listening to the experiences of people who use our services is really important to us and it is fantastic to see the hard work and dedication of our teams to providing safe, compassionate, high quality care reflected in these survey results.

“We are incredibly proud of the teams who provide our cancer services. The past two and half years have been extremely challenging and safeguarding, and caring for, our clinically vulnerable patients has been our top priority. Our services have had to change how and where they deliver care on more than one occasion during this time and yet they have continued to give our patients a positive and supportive experience which is a real testament to their values and commitment as individuals and as teams.

“While there are unprecedented pressures on medical care regionally and nationally, cancer service delivery is also rapidly changing with emerging new developments that will transform cancer care in the future. We will use these results, and the feedback we receive direct from patients and their families, to continue to engage with all agencies to further improve our services.”

The full report for Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust is available on the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey website.