During Prostate Cancer Awareness month, the University of Leicester reported a recent investigation promising to upgrade prostate cancer care across England. Members from the Department of Health Sciences elaborated a survey system to assist NHS Trusts in improving their services. The surveys are funded by the NHS Service Delivery and Organisation R & D Programme and included more than 1,500 patients in twelve hospitals. The results suggest plans for future surveys of cancer care in England.

“Thanks to support from a number of hospitals throughout the country we now have a robust means of monitoring the experiences of prostate cancer patients and their carers. This will help hospitals to make a big difference in the way they care for patients with prostate cancer,” said Professor Richard Baker, Head of Department.

With an increasing 35,000 new cases a year, Professor Baker points out prostate cancer is the most widespread cancer among men in the UK. Surveys have reported that in general, prostate cancer patients rated their experiences of care less favorably than patients with other cancers.

He indicates: “The team has developed questionnaires for hospitals to use to get feedback from patients so that they can identify where improvements need to be made. Unusually, there is also a questionnaire for their carer (partner/relative) to complete to check whether their needs are being met as they often play a vital role in supporting men with prostate cancer.”

“The questionnaires have been thoroughly tested in a number of hospitals around the country and software is also provided to make it easy to record and analyse the answers given. Questions about patients’ and carers’ experiences of care start from the initial appointment with the GP and go on to cover diagnosis, treatment and monitoring.”

So far, the researchers observe:
-Patients reported a superior experience of care when they had access to specialist nurses.
-At every stages of treatment, services for men with prostate cancer improved when they had access to specialist nurses.
-Further data on patients’ experience of care are needed in order to improve services.

“A diagnosis of prostate cancer comes as a shock to many men and their partners; accordingly, health professionals have a duty to impart sensitively and effectively information to those affected -about the disease, the treatment options and possible side effects,” Professor Baker said.

“The level of information and support that patients with prostate cancer receive is not as good as it could be – the reasons for these shortcomings are not clear. Providing information tailored to patients’ individual needs is therefore an important part of improving their experience of care not just at diagnosis but at all stages.”

A summary of the full report is available at:
www.sdo.nihr.ac.uk/files/adhoc/77-research-summary.pdf

Direct access to the questionnaires and user guide:
www.sdo.nihr.ac.uk/files/adhoc/77-questionaires2.pdf

To find out more about Prostate Cancer Awareness month, see:
www.prostate-cancer.org.uk/what/awareness.asp

Written by Stephanie Brunner (B.A.)