Scottish Radiotherapy Patient Experience Survey 2014: National Results: Volume 1
National results from the first Scottish Radiotherapy Patient Experience Survey 2014.
6 RESULTS: ABOUT YOUR RADIOTHERAPY
Summary
6.1 Again, there were some mixed results when patients were asked about their radiotherapy, but for the most part patients were very positive. 97% of patients who wanted someone to talk to in hospital about their worries and fears said that they were able to find someone. The vast majority of patients (97%) said that they were told very clearly how many fractions they would need. But some patients said that they weren't given a very clear explanation of their plan of treatment (10%); or weren't given very clear information to help manage their side-effects (27%).
Detailed results
6.2 Patients were asked a series of questions about radiotherapy including: whether they were told how many treatments were needed; how long the course of treatment would last; whether they were told about the possible side-effects; and if they were able to talk to someone about their worries and fears. A summary of the results is in table 4 below:
Table 4 Summary of the results to questions about radiotherapy
| Measure |
Negative |
Neutral |
Partly Positive |
Positive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Told how many radiotherapy treatments probably needed |
0 |
3 |
n/a |
97 |
| Told how long in total course of radiotherapy treatment would last |
1 |
4 |
n/a |
96 |
| Plan of treatment clearly explained by a member of staff |
2 |
9 |
n/a |
90 |
| Given information to help manage side-effects of treatment |
4 |
23 |
n/a |
73 |
| Information given by radiographer at treatment visit the same as that given by doctor/radiographer at clinic visit |
1 |
12 |
n/a |
87 |
| Someone in the hospital to talk to about worries or fears |
3 |
n/a |
n/a |
97 |
Note: percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding
6.3 There were some positive responses to these questions with patients largely reporting that they had been given clear information on most aspects of their radiotherapy treatment, for example:
- The vast majority of patients (97%) said that they were told very clearly how many fractions they would need.
- And again, the vast majority of patients (96%) said that they were told very clearly how long in total their course of radiotherapy treatment would last.
- Most patients (90%) said that their plan of treatment was explained to them very clearly.
- 87% of patients said that they were given exactly the same information at their treatment visit as they were at their clinic visit.
- Of those patients who wanted to talk to someone in the hospital about their worries and fears, 97% said that they found someone. 73% said that these were in the radiotherapy department; 24% said that they were elsewhere.
6.4 There were some aspects of radiotherapy which could be improved, for example:
- 9% of patients said that their treatment plan was only explained to some extent; and a small number (2%) said that it wasn't explained at all.
- Nearly three-quarters (73%) of patients said that they were given clear information to help them manage the side-effects of their treatment. But 23% said that this was only true to some extent; and a small number (4%) said that they weren't given such information (chart 7).
Chart 7 Given information to help manage side effects of treatment (%)
Variation between centres
6.5 In the main there was little variation between the five radiotherapy centres. The exception to this was on the following questions:
- Explaining plan of treatment - scores ranged from 87% to 95% positive, with Dundee Cancer Centre doing particularly well.
- Information about managing side effects - scores ranged from 68% to 79% positive, with Dundee Cancer Centre doing particularly well.
- Consistency of information - scores ranged from 85% to 93% positive, with Dundee Cancer Centre doing particularly well.
Contact
Email: Fiona Hodgkiss
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