Macmillan Cancer Support responds to Cancer Patient Experience Survey report 2019

In response to the new 2019 Cancer Patient Experience Survey report for England, Lynda Thomas Chief Executive Officer at Macmillan Cancer Support said:

“The latest statistics* show an ongoing disparity of care for some cancer patients in England. These inequalities in cancer care are deeply disturbing and must urgently be addressed, to make lasting change. Worse still, the coronavirus pandemic this year could have worsened these inequalities. It’s integral that anyone diagnosed with cancer is included in detailed conversations about their treatment with healthcare practitioners and that everyone has an active role in decisions about their care, regardless of their background.

“Macmillan’s purpose is to help everyone with cancer live life as fully as they can. The NHS Long Term Plan in England includes a commitment to ensure that by 2021, every person diagnosed with cancer will have access to personalised care plans, including a needs assessment and health and wellbeing support. There is still much work to be done to address inequalities and we urge the Government to ensure that any cancer recovery plans put in place, reflect the work required to catch-up on this commitment, to ensure that everyone diagnosed with cancer has a good experience of care.”

*Factbox

BAME inequalities

· People with cancer who are Black or Asian are 24%-36% more likely than those who are White to say their treatment options were only partially explained or not at all** before they started treatment (15% of White respondents said this compared with 18% of Black respondents and 20% of Asian respondents)

· People with cancer who are Black or Asian are 41–48% more likely than those who are White to say they were only partially involved in decisions about their care and treatment** (18% of White respondents said this compared with 26% of Asian respondents and 27% of Black respondents)

· Overall, there are statistically significant differences in responses by ethnicity for three-quarters (75%) of the questions in the survey***

LGBT inequalities

· Non-heterosexual respondents are 14% more likely to say their treatment options were only partially explained or not at all** before they started treatment compared with heterosexual respondents (17% vs 15%)

• Overall, there are statistically significant differences for two-fifths (41%) of the survey questions in responses between heterosexual and non-heterosexual respondents***

**This refers to those who said ‘yes — to some extent’ or ‘no’

*** This refers to the 51 questions out of 60 that were tested for statistical significance

Source: NHS England. 2019 National Cancer Patient Experience Survey for England. https://www.ncpes.co.uk/2019-national-level-results/