THE Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (Royal Devon) is extremely pleased that patients receiving cancer care from it rated their care higher than average in nearly all areas in the recent national cancer patient experience survey.

Overall, patient feedback was positive and when asked to rate their care out of 10, patients at the Royal Devon provided an average score of 9/10.

The Royal Devon scored higher than the national average 10 areas, including:

• Staff provided the patient with relevant information on available support (95 per cent)

• The whole care team worked well together (93 per cent)

• Administration of care was good or very good (92 per cent)

• Patient was told they could go back later for more information about their diagnosis (88 per cent)

• Diagnostic test staff appeared to completely have all the information they needed about the patient (86 per cent).

This takes the level of patient satisfaction back to its rating before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Trust saw reduced scores in only two areas:

• Patient had confidence and trust in all of the team looking after them during their stay in hospital

• Patient was always able to discuss worries and fears with hospital staff.

The Royal Devon will be working closely with its teams to understand how it can improve in these areas.

The Trust says this is a very pleasing result, demonstrating the sustained high quality of care being delivered to its patients.

It wishes to recognise and thank all colleagues for their personal contribution, dedication and commitment towards their patients.

The Trust would also like to pay a special thank you to its partner charities ELF, FORCE and Hospiscare for their continued care and support.

Carolyn Mills, Chief Nursing Officer, said: “The teams at the Royal Devon go to great lengths to provide the best possible care for our patients, putting patients at the heart of everything they do.

“We are delighted to see that is reflected in the feedback that patients have given about their cancer care.

“Hearing the views of patients through surveys like this is hugely valuable to the Trust we are always looking for ways to improve our services.”

In total, 1,249 Royal Devon patients completed the survey, a 60 per cent response rate, almost eight per cent higher than the national average of 52 per cent.

You can read the full survey results at: https://www.ncpes.co.uk/ .