Scottish Radiotherapy Patient Experience Survey 2014: National Results: Volume 1

7 RESULTS: DAILY TREATMENT VISITS

Summary

7.1 There were mixed results in this section, however, virtually 100% of patients said that the environment of the radiotherapy department (the waiting room, the treatment room, and the department as a whole) was "good" or "very good". There were some logistical issues, where scores were lower (with car parking, being informed of delays, and changing facilities). There is room for improvement on a number of questions to do with communication. The majority of patients are having formal reviews of their treatment, but there are large numbers (26%) where this is not the case.

Detailed results

7.2 These questions asked about getting to and from appointments and the environment when patients arrived. This included: whether or not parking was easy; appointments started on time; whether the department was clean; how the general environment was rated by patients; and whether or not they were able to communicate adequately with radiographers. A summary of the responses is in table 5 below:

Table 5 Summary of the results to questions about daily treatment visits

Note: percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

7.3 There were mixed results in many of these questions however the most positive results were:

• 71% of patients said that the environment of the waiting room was "very good", and another 28% said that it was "good". Only 18 patients (1%) said that it was "poor", and none said that it was "very poor".
• 85% of patients said that the environment of the treatment room was "very good", and another 15% said that it was "good". Only 3 patients said that it was "poor", and none said that it was "very poor".
• 87% of patients said that the environment of the department as a whole was "very good", and another 13% said that it was "good". Only 2 patients said that it was "poor", and none said that it was "very poor".
• Virtually all patients said that staff took adequate care whilst helping get them into the right position for treatment. 97% said that this was definitely the case; and 3% said that it was the case to some extent. Only 2 patients said that it wasn't the case.

7.4 There were other areas which patients reported more difficulty or dissatisfaction, particularly on the questions around logistics of getting to appointments and some of the communication issues. For example:

• Of those who needed to park, 44% said that it was not easy.

• While most patients (85%) said that their treatment started on time or within 20 minutes of their appointment, some patients (14%) said that it started between 20 minutes and 1 hour of their appointment time; and a small number (10 patients, 1%) said that it started more than 1 hour after their appointment time. Nearly one in ten patients (9%) said that it varied from visit to visit.
• If appointments were delayed, nearly a third of patients said that they were never or rarely (10%) or only sometimes (21%) informed of any delays.
• While just over three-quarters of patients said that changing facilities allowed them to maintain their dignity, nearly one-fifth (19%) said that this was only the case to some extent and 4% said not at all.
• A number of patients (27%) said that they weren't told they could communicate with the radiographers during appointments; and a further 11% said that they didn't know/couldn't remember if they had been told.
• While most (85%) of patients agreed completely that they had an opportunity to discuss questions with their radiographer, there were some patients (2%) who said that they didn't; and a further 14% only agreed with this to some extent.
• Just over one-quarter (26%) of patients said that they didn't have a regular formal review of treatment (chart 8).

Chart 8 Regular formal reviews (%)

Variation between centres

7.5 In the main there was little variation between the five radiotherapy centres. The exception to this was on the following questions:

• Parking - scores ranged from 28% to 91% positive, with Edinburgh Cancer Centre doing particularly well.
• Changing facilities - scores ranged from 68% to 97% positive with Dundee Cancer Centre doing particularly well.
• Regular formal review - scores ranged from 61% to 92% positive with Department of Clinical Oncology (Inverness) doing particularly well.
• Delays - scores ranged from 59% to 82% positive with Dundee Cancer Centre doing particularly well.
• Communicating with radiographers - scores ranged from 68% to 90% positive, with Dundee Cancer Centre doing particularly well.
• Appointment time - scores ranged from 81% to 97%, with Dundee Cancer Centre doing particularly well.
• Discussing questions with radiographer - scores ranged from 83% to 90% positive with Dundee Cancer Centre doing particularly well.