National Cancer Patient Experience Survey
The National Cancer Patient Experience Survey 2021 is the eleventh iteration of the survey first undertaken in 2010. It has been designed to monitor national progress on experience of cancer care; to provide information to drive local quality improvements; to assist commissioners and providers of cancer care; and to inform the work of the various charities and stakeholder groups supporting cancer patients.
The questionnaire was reviewed in 2021 to reflect changes to cancer services and commitments to cancer care as detailed in the NHS Long Term Plan which is available at www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/online-version/.
The survey was overseen by a National Cancer Patient Experience Advisory Group. This group advises on the principles and objectives of the survey programme and supports questionnaire development.
The survey was commissioned and managed by NHS England. The survey provider, Picker, is responsible for technical design, implementation and analysis of the survey.
The 2021 survey involved 134 NHS trusts. Out of 107,412 people, 59,352 people responded to the survey, yielding a response rate of 55%.
Eligibility
The sample for the survey included all adult (aged 16 and over) NHS patients, with a confirmed primary diagnosis of cancer, discharged from a NHS trust after an inpatient episode or day case attendance for cancer related treatment in the months of April, May and June 2021.
Fieldwork
The fieldwork for the survey was undertaken between October 2021 and February 2022.
Survey methods
The survey used a mixed mode methodology. Questionnaires were sent by post, with two reminders where necessary, but also included an option to complete the questionnaire online.
A Freephone helpline and email were available for respondents to opt out, ask questions about the survey, enable them to complete their questionnaire over the phone and provide access to a translation and interpreting facility for those whose first language was not English.
Note on question comparability
The questionnaire was redeveloped for the 2021 National Cancer Patient Experience Survey. Due to the significant changes made to the questionnaire, no trend data or year on year comparisons are presented in this year’s results. Comparisons to previous years’ results should not be made.
Scoring methodology
Sixty-one questions from the questionnaire are scored, as these questions relate directly to patient experience. For all but one question (Q59), scores are presented as the percentage of positive responses out of all scored responses.
For Q59, respondents rated their overall care on a scale of 0 to 10, of which the average was calculated for this question’s presented score.
For each scored question, each response option has been identified as either a positive, negative, or neutral response. Scores were calculated using the total number of positive responses as the numerator and the total number of positive and negative responses as the denominator. Neutral scores (e.g., ‘Don’t know / can’t remember’) were excluded from this calculation.
Sub-group comparisons
Sub-group comparisons allow us to explore differences in how people experience cancer care. Some of the groups may be quite small and so caution should be taken when looking at results. See ‘About the Respondents’ for information on the number of responses for sub-groups. For detailed subgroup analysis at a national level, please see the national Excel tables available at www.ncpes.co.uk.
Suppression rules
To protect the identity of respondents, suppression rules have been applied to scores. Where the total number of responses to a question is <11, data for the question are suppressed, indicated by an asterisk (*).
Where the base size for any groups for sub-group comparisons (e.g., a specific diagnostic/cancer group) is <11, data for that sub-group AND the next smallest sub-group are suppressed.
For further detail on additional suppression rules used at alliance, ICS, and trust level, please see the Technical Document available at www.ncpes.co.uk.
The following questions are not published: 1, 4, 10, 11, 30, 40
National Cancer Patient Experience Survey and Ethnicity Analysis
For the first time, the Transforming Cancer Services Team has undertaken analysis of the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey results and compared responses from:
- London BAME cancer patient experience with London White cancer patient experience.
- London BAME cancer patient experience with England BAME cancer patient experience.
Of the 52 questions analysed:
- 27 questions showed that the London BAME cancer patient experience was statistically different to the London White cancer patient experience.
- 3 questions showed that the London BAME cancer patient experience was statistically better than the London White cancer patient experience.
- 2 questions showed that the London BAME cancer patient experience was statistically different to the England BAME cancer patient experience.
- 1 question showed that the London BAME cancer patient experience was statistically better than the England BAME cancer patient experience.
The Transforming Cancer Services Team will be working with its stakeholders across London to delve further and work collaboratively to address these inequalities.