Plaudits for cancer care in Yorkshire

CANCER patients in Yorkshire are receiving the best care in the country, welcome new research has found, helping to allay fears of a yawning North-South divide in health inequalities.

A new league table compiled from Department of Health surveys of cancer patients, the first of its kind in England, has revealed five hospital trusts serving patients in Yorkshire are in the top 10 nationwide, with Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust at number one.

Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is ranked at third, Airedale NHS Foundation Trust at fourth, South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – which treats patients from vast swathes of rural North Yorkshire – at ninth, and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust at tenth.

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Yesterday’s announcement comes amid warnings from senior health professionals that health inequalities between the North and South are at their greatest for 40 years, and has been welcomed by hospital chiefs in Yorkshire.

Andrew Alldred, clinical director for cancer and support services at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said: “In Harrogate, we recognise that treating people with cancer is not just about having the right chemotherapy, but that giving them emotional support and help for when they leave hospital is also crucial.

“We are delighted this survey has shown that we are taking the right approach as far as patients are concerned and we will be looking to build on that in the future.”

Juliette Greenwood, chief nurse at Barnsley Hospital, said: “We are thrilled to learn that cancer patients rate their experience with us so highly.

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“We always put patients at the heart of what we do and this external recognition is proof that we’re getting it right.”

The survey, compiled by Macmillan Cancer Support in conjunction with the Department of Health, also reveals that eight of the 10 hospital trusts at the foot of the league table serve London.

Following the findings, its director, Stephen Richards, has called on the Government to provide urgent support to the trusts that are failing cancer patients.

“The overall experience you have in hospital can have a massive impact on your health and wellbeing and how well you cope once back home”, he said.

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Patients tell us they want information, emotional and practical help alongside their critical care and we congratulate the best performing trusts which are doing exactly that.”

The table was drawn up measuring cancer patients’ experience while being treated at hospital, including if there were enough nurses on duty, whether they were given enough support from health and social services when they left hospital, and whether they were given enough emotional support.

It does not cover medical treatments patients received, such as standards of chemotherapy, or surgery.

Earlier this year, a study published in the British Medical Journal said that between 1965 and 2008 people living in the North were a fifth more likely to die prematurely under the age of 75 despite Government efforts to bridge the gap with the South.

The number of excess deaths among all age groups was 14 per cent higher in the North than in the South.