Cancer patients in north Cumbria have praised the services of staff in a recent national survey.

Patients said that they had good care and support while in hospital, were involved in treatment decisions and were given understandable information.

The Cancer Patient Experience Survey, led by NHS England, shows that the cancer teams at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Trust (NCIC) consistently scored above the national average by patients when asked about their experience.

Kiyla Murray, lead cancer nurse at NCIC said: "This is excellent news and a credit to the staff who work so hard to provide high-quality care to our cancer patients. From 2022 until April this year, we required national oversight to support us with our waiting lists and cancer improvement programme.

"Thanks to investment in staffing and a significant effort from staff our waiting lists are improving and now we can see how much that effort means to patients. Reading that our patients feel listened to and involved gives us all confidence and I am very proud of the team."

The NCIC achieved this positive review despite staff turnover registering at 10.2% in 2022, which was an increase on 8.6% from the year before. 

However, this does not paint an accurate picture and can be attributed to staff being transferred to Newcastle hospitals, where they still provide care for those in north Cumbria. 

The NCIC has also 'invested heavily' in adding more staff to its roster and has seen wait times decrease and patient satisfaction increase as a result. 

Across all NHS hospital and community health services, turnover in the cancer workforce reached 12.1% with 4,378 staff leaving last year – the highest rate since at least 2010.

But for those in north Cumbria at least, it seems as if cancer care services are improving, after the NCIC scored consistently about the national average for patient satisfaction. 

A spokesperson for the NCIC said: 

"These figures reflect the fact that during May 2021 a number of our cancer staff transferred to Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust which runs the cancer treatment services in the Northern Centre for Cancer Care North Cumbria based on the Cumberland Infirmary site.

"These staff have not left the NHS, and they continue to deliver high-quality cancer care to patients in North Cumbria. At NCIC we have also invested heavily in more staff to help us reduce the backlog in cancer diagnostics. Overall there has been a significant increase in the number of staff caring for cancer patients in our Trust.

"The investment we have made means we have now reduced most of our cancer waiting times. The latest cancer patient experience survey shows that we have consistently scored above the national average for patient satisfaction with our cancer services."

Of the 59 questions asked, the Trust scored higher than the national average in 53 questions. For questions about getting help from and discussing worries with ward staff; being able to have someone with them when being told about a diagnosis and going back for more information the Trust scored above the expected range. There were no questions where the Trust scored lower than expected.

Kiyla added: "Our cancer services have been going through a significant improvement journey and clearly this is having an impact on our patients. We have invested in our acute oncology team to better support patients with oncology side effects or who are deteriorating.

"We have also invested in cancer care coordinators who collaborate and communicate with the wider healthcare team to provide support and coordination of care for cancer patients, their carers and families.

"The survey shows that patients are getting the information they need about tests in plenty of time and are given privacy during tests. Patients are being told sensitively and in a way they understand about their cancer diagnosis and they had a main contact who was helpful and easy to get hold of.

"They said they were involved in their treatment and care planning options and for those who had to be admitted to hospital the survey showed the care and support was good.

"However, we are never complacent and we know that we still need to make further improvements, particularly to those waiting more than 62 days for treatment but this does give us confidence that we are moving in the right direction.”