DORSET has been praised for the quality of care it offers cancer patients.

The latest national survey of cancer patients saw the county scored at the highest expected result in 16 of the 59 questions.

Overall Dorset patients rated their care as 8.9 out of 10 in NHS England’s Cancer Patient Experience Survey for 2016.

Royal Bournemouth Hospital was scored at 9, Poole was scored at 8.9 and Dorset County Hospital was scored at 8.8.

The results are based on nearly 1300 responses from NHS patients with a confirmed primary diagnosis of cancer who had been discharged from an NHS Trust after an inpatients' episode or day case attendance for cancer related treatment between April – June 2016.

Of those who responded to the survey, 91 per cent of patients thought the length of time they waited for a test to be carried out was ‘about right’, 86 per cent of patients felt they had been told they had cancer in a sensitive manner, 93 per cent felt they got understandable answers to important questions all or most of the time and 96 per cent said hospital staff told them who to contact if they were worried about their condition or treatment after they left hospital. Meanwhile 65 per cent felt the hospital and community staff always worked well together. All these were higher than the national average.

Tom Geldart, consultant medical oncologist and clinical lead Dorset Cancer Partnership, said: “The results of the patient survey are a fantastic result for Dorset and we could not be more pleased that our local services are rated so highly. These results are a testament to the hard work and co-ordinated effort of all staff involved in cancer services and demonstrates what can be achieved when all our care services work together for the benefit of patients.”