CANCER care at Poole Hospital has been rated highly in a new patient survey.

The NHS Cancer Patient Experience Survey, carried out on behalf of the Department of Health, invited patients to rate their care from initial referral to discharge from hospital.

Poole ranked in the top 20% of UK hospitals in almost half the questions, and was one of a handful to receive no scores in the bottom 20%.

The hospital was rated especially highly for its support for patients in making treatment decisions, provision of cancer nurse specialists, quality of consultations by doctors and the communication and understanding shown by ward staff.

Strong management of pain control, information given at discharge, and the hospital care for day patients and outpatients were also praised.

But patients did call for better access to easy-to-understand written information.

Poole Hospital chief executive Chris Bown said they were “delighted” with the findings, adding: “We will continue to strive to provide the highest standard of care for cancer patients.”

Dr Andrew Bell, lead cancer clinician, said it was “particularly encouraging” to see how the advanced communication skills training given to all cancer care staff was being perceived by patients.

To read the full results, visit www. quality-health.co.uk/cancer-reports