Croydon Health Services have beat out the national average in the latest national patient survey.

In the National Cancer Patient Survey, the NHS Trust scored 8.8 out of 10 overall for care compared to the average for trusts across the country of 8.7.

The survey also revealed that 97 per cent of Croydon patients said it had been ‘quite easy’ or ‘very easy’ to contact their clinical nurse specialist. This compares to 93 per cent last year, beating the national average of 86 per cent.

Macmillan lead cancer nurse (head of nursing for cancer) Nicola Beech said: “this is a fantastic result and shows that our continued drive to improve cancer care at Croydon is really starting to make a difference.

“The survey said 97% of patients found it easy to contact their Clinical Nurse Specialist – this is higher than the national average and six percentage points better than we did last year. Also, 90% of our patients felt assured of who to contact if they had any worries or concerns once they had left hospital. This is so important when you, and your loved ones, are dealing with cancer.”

The survey also highlighted that:

• 76 per cent of patients said they were definitely involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment (compared to 70 per cent last year)

• 89 per cent said they were given the name of a clinical nurse specialist who would support them through their treatment (compared to 86 per cent last year)

• 86 per cent said that, overall, they were always treated with dignity and respect while they were in hospital (compared to 81 per cent last year)