A review of the results from the National Radiotherapy Patient Experience Survey in England

Aim: The goal of the survey was to obtain a meaningful picture about patients' experiences across all radiotherapy centres within provider NHS trusts within England. Methods: A survey questionnaire was constructed to assess patients' views about their care, information and support at all stages of their radiotherapy pathway. The questionnaire was posted to patients who attended for radiotherapy within NHS trusts in England from April until December 2012. Key results: Many of the results were positive, for example 99% of patients had either complete confidence or confidence to some extent in the health care professional undertaking their consent. 97% of patients said that the amount of information given to them before their radiotherapy was either excellent or satisfactory. However there were 10% of patients who were not invited to an information session before radiotherapy, 14% of patients who were not told how to communicate with their radiographers whilst their treatment was delivered and 13% of patients who were not given a contact number to ring if they had any problems relating to their radiotherapy after finishing. Conclusions and recommendations: The results indicate that the majority of patients have experienced high quality care in many aspects of their radiotherapy pathway. However there are some areas where improvements could be made. It is recommended that all Radiotherapy Service Managers (RTSMs) review their local results and implement improvements where required and they re-audit on an annual basis. It is also recommended that the national survey is repeated at regular intervals to monitor progress. (C) 2014 The College of Radiographers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.