Patients at the Royal Free London have reported an improvement in their cancer care, according to the results of the 2023 National Cancer Patient Experience Survey (NCPES), published today.

Patients reported greater satisfaction in many areas including involvement in decisions about their treatment and their care planning. There were also improved scores for their confidence and trust in the team looking after them in hospital and for staff providing them with relevant information about available support. The trust will continue to look to improve in all areas, but particularly around our communication around diagnosis.

Trusts are scored by their patients on a wide range of themes from diagnosis right through to treatment. The Royal Free London’s (RFL’s) average rating of care – scored from very poor to very good – was 8.9, an improvement from a score of 8.7, which the trust received in both 2021 and 2022 (all case mix adjusted).

The RFL receives almost 50,000 suspected cancer referrals every year, the largest in London, and the trust delivers the second highest number of first treatments in the capital. A quarter of the trust’s budget - £270 million – is spent on cancer care every year.

The trust’s status as a leading centre for cancer diagnosis and treatment means the focus is on delivering the very best experience for patients throughout the whole of their cancer journey.

This year the trust installed an £8 million positron emission tomography (PET) scanner at the Royal Free Hospital, funded by the Royal Free Charity, which is 30 times more sensitive than standard machines, speeding up diagnoses for thousands of patients, as well as supporting research. 

Understanding what matters to patients is an important part of getting cancer services right and that will only continue to develop as the numbers of people with living with cancer is forecast to grow from three million to 5.3 million by 2040.

New this year, as a direct result of feedback from the previous NCPES, a pre-treatment event is being held twice each month – one session at Chase Farm Hospital and one at the Royal Free Hospital - called PREPARE, which is led by Macmillan nurses. The two hour session covers all aspects of the cancer pathway from treatments, side effects and the emotional reaction to diagnosis. Patients are talked through healthy eating, physical activity and information about all the support that is available, including Maggie’s and the Macmillan information centres at each hospital site. 

Jemma O’Reilly, lead cancer nurse at the RFL, said: “The reaction to PREPARE has been overwhelmingly positive with participants telling us it’s informative, helpful and ‘cuts through the guessing’. We’ve noticed that whatever cancer they have patients are keen to attend and attendance is also representative of our patient ethnicities which is fantastic.

“We know there is still more to do and we have many more plans for the future and we look forward to sharing them.”

In addition, thousands of the trust’s cancer patients are benefitting from the new Maggie’s support centre which opened in the grounds of the Royal Free Hospital at the beginning of this year. The centre is expected to receive more than 10,000 visits each year from people living with cancer, their families and their friends. 

Dame Laura Lee, chief executive of Maggie’s, said: “Experiencing a cancer diagnosis is a hugely stressful time for everyone involved and Maggie’s is here to support people through this and give people the tools they need to feel more in control. Our experts are there to offer psychological support and make sure that both the person coping with a cancer diagnosis and their friends and families know what to expect ahead of their treatment, during and after their treatment.   

“We are delighted to continue working with the Royal Free London to make sure as many people as possible from across North London and beyond can benefit from this expert support when living with cancer.”

The first NCPES survey was conducted in England in 2010 and since then, around 60,000 patients across the country take part each year.