Abstract:
Introduction: New Zealand cancer care has been recognised as one of the areas in healthcare that needs to be addressed as the cancer death rates are becoming more prevalent, making it one of the top three causes of death within the country. Literature identified patient experience to be the main influential factor on patient outcome because good patient experience of care can encourage and empower patients and families to be more involved, proactive and more compliant in their own care management. As the number of cancer diagnoses increases, the demand for outpatient services in cancer care increases concurrently. Outpatient services allow patients to receive treatment without requiring admission to hospital enabling patients to continue with their daily lives as much as they can. Moreover, advanced cancer screening services have also enabled earlier diagnosis, which have contributed to an increase in survival rates for cancer, resulting in an increase in demand for cancer treatments for both patients who are requiring ongoing cancer care or newly diagnosed patients. Method: This research portfolio aims to explore patient experience in Oncology Day Stay at Auckland City Hospital. A comprehensive review of available literature was performed in order to inform the second phase of the study. The review of the literature concluded three main aspects of cancer care which influenced patient experience of care and these were Information Provision, Coordination of Care and Healthcare staff-patient relationship. A generic electronic outpatient questionnaire used by Auckland City Hospital used in the previous year was then adapted to the cancer outpatient setting to suit the population group in this research study. A hundred and fifty hard-copy questionnaires were distributed to patients who were over 18 years old and receiving chemotherapy treatments at the Oncology Day Stay, Auckland City Hospital. Patients were asked to evaluate their experience of care specifically on Information Provision, Organisation and Care Correspondence, and Confidence in Care. The questionnaire consisted of multi-choice questions, free-text boxes and Likert scales. Results: The survey was conducted over a four week period with 101 patients participated, showing a 67% response rate. The majority of participants were NZ European females. Ninety percent of participants reported positive experiences in having Confidence in Care healthcare staff, 89% of participants were satisfied with the amount of information provision given to them, and 91% of participants had positive experiences with organisation and care correspondence. Regardless of the positive experiences reported in organisation and care correspondence, a number of suggestions were made regarding appointment information, care correspondence and information on the transition of care after treatment. There were very few responses from minority groups, including Asians, Pacifica population, and Maori. Conclusion: Patient experience of information provision (89%) and organisation and care correspondence (91%) were better than statistics found in the literature from other Oncology Departments around the world. However, the findings from this study reinforced the importance of continuity of care and healthcare staff-patient relationship. Recommendations on possible ways the department could improve on their patient experience have been made.