We work with the Welsh Assembly

In Wales, 19,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every year and more than 130,000 people are currently living with or beyond cancer, almost 4.5 percent of the population¹. By 2030 it is expected that 250,000, almost eight percent of the Welsh population, will have been affected by a cancer diagnosis and one in two of us will be affected by cancer at some point in our lives.

The good news is that survival rates are steadily improving and many people recover. On average 70 percent² of Welsh residents diagnosed with cancer can expect to survive at least one year. However, improving survival rates in Wales needs to be considered in the context of even better survival rates in many other European countries. 

We are pleased that the Welsh Government’s Cancer Delivery Plan 2017 - 2020 reflects an ambitious approach to delivering cancer services in Wales. We believe strengthened performance management arrangements must now be put in place to ensure all aspects of the plan are implemented and monitored to increase consistency and improve services for all people affected by cancer across Wales.

You can read our full response to inform the refresh of Welsh Government’s cancer delivery plan here.

[1] WCISU Feb 2015

[2] Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit Official Statistics 2012 data. Published 10 April 2014

Ahead of the 2016 Welsh Assembly Elections, we were calling on all political parties to commit to ensuring everyone who is given a cancer diagnosis is assigned and has access to a specialist cancer nurse who is also their key worker whilst in the acute stages of treatment. We continue to strongly believe that this should be the case to deliver the best possible quality of care for patients. 

However, across Wales, we know that there are differences in the provision of specialist nursing expertise for different cancer types, as well as variation across geographical locations. 

You can find out more about the challenges facing the workforce both now and in the future in our Specialist Adult Cancer Nurse census and in our response to the Welsh Assembly’s Health Social Care & Health committee focusing on the sustainability of the health and social care workforce.

Macmillan believes that to achieve the best outcome following a cancer diagnosis, person-centred care must be at the heart of service delivery. 

Only by focusing on the whole person, can the patient’s experience during their cancer journey be as good as it can possibly be. This is true for those who survive cancer, are living with cancer or someone who is nearing the end of life. It means treating people with sensitivity and compassion and ensuring that their care is holistic in its planning and delivery. This care goes beyond the clinical to also address wider social, financial, emotional, practical, psychological and spiritual concerns. 

There are a number of factors required in order to deliver person-centred care consistently and to a high quality. These are: 

• Active involvement of the patient in planning and understanding their care plan.
  
• Personalised and holistic needs assessments and written care planning and patient copy.
  
• Well co-ordinated continuity of care.
  
• Good communication.
  
• Access to high quality information and support.
  
• Signposting to financial, practical and emotional support.

Assessment and care planning provides an opportunity to engage with people in decisions about their care and generate valuable information to develop a holistic personal care plan. This should include discussions around the experience, skills and expertise an individual can contribute to improving their own outcomes, experience and quality of life. The individual should receive a copy of the written care plan.

• You may be interested in our booklet Planning your care and support: Having a holistic needs assessment 

It is essential that we continue to try to understand people’s experiences of cancer care, what is working and what areas need to improve. We will also aim to better understand the clinical and non-clinical needs of people with cancer in Wales.

The first all Wales Cancer Patient Experience survey

Data from this survey, published in 2014, provided us with valuable insight into the patient experience of cancer care in Wales. And provided a valuable baseline of information to measure future progress.

Whilst the overall experience of cancer patients was a positive one, the results of this survey identified clear challenges and areas for improvement, such as: 

• reducing different patient experiences depending on health boards
• reducing different patient experiences depending on the type of cancer
  
• the identification of a key worker
• care planning
• assessment of clinical and non clinical needs
• provision of high quality and timely information
• care after treatment when people return home. 

The second all Wales Cancer Patient Experience survey

The second survey on cancer patient experience in Wales was launched on the 18 July 2016 by Lesley Griffiths AM, Cabinet Secretary in the Welsh Government. Paper and online versions were distributed in both English and Welsh.

11,000 people who received treatment for their cancer in Wales during 2015 were invited to complete the survey and when the survey closed in October, 6717 patients had responded and completed the survey questions. This high completion response rate (65%) clearly demonstrates the willingness of cancer patients to share their experience. 

Benefits of the second survey

The survey:

• represents the commitment made in the Cancer Delivery Plan to measure patient experience in Wales
• provides 11,000 patients an opportunity to have their say about the cancer care they received in Wales in 2015
• will help Health Boards and Velindre NHS Trust, the Welsh Government, Macmillan and other partner organisations to better understand patients’ experience of cancer care
• will provide further insight and help measure progress in cancer services in Wales since 2013
• will help identify where there are areas for improvement and highlight areas of good practice
• will result in the production of individual Health Boards/Trust reports containing both quantitative and qualitative data from the survey participants.

The results of the survey are expected to be published in the Spring 2017.

You may also be interested in...

• Read more about patient experience in the policy section
• Read more about the cancer patient experience survey