Sydney (Australia) Adventist Hospital’s Integrated Cancer Centre, which operates in partnership with Icon Cancer Centre Wahroonga, has achieved some of the highest ratings of care in a state-wide patient survey of cancer clinics.

This major tick of approval restores the San Integrated Cancer Centre to the position first earned in 2017 as among New South Wales’ (NSW) best for patient-reported experience and reaffirmed by the 2018 survey results which show the hospital received some of the highest results across a variety of performance measures.

The Outpatient Cancer Clinics Survey is the result of a partnership by the Bureau of Health Information and the Cancer Institute NSW.

The 2019 survey results are from more than 13,000 cancer patients from 49 NSW facilities. Ratings of care at outpatient cancer clinics are the highest seen across all Bureau of Health Information patient surveys and the latest results show improvement across most measures.

In the extensive questionnaire, patients were asked to evaluate their experience of access to services, care planning and coordination, complications, follow-up, and support.

There were 375 patients from the Sydney Adventist Hospital’s San Integrated Cancer Centre who responded to the survey, recording ratings “significantly more favorable” than the NSW average, across 10 performance measures—the highest of any facility.

The San Integrated Cancer Centre survey results indicated that amongst the survey respondents:

• 96% rated the care they received as “very good”

• 88% thought the center’s health professionals “worked very well together”

• 94% believed the care they received was “very well organized”

• 96% would speak highly of their clinic experience to family and friends

• 98% advised they were treated with respect

• 98% reported the health professionals were always kind and caring

• 99% felt their cultural and religious beliefs were respected

• 95% confirmed they were seen within 30 minutes of the scheduled appointment time

• 94% had their health professionals explain the purpose of new medication completely in a way that could be understood.

Sydney Adventist Hospital CEO Brett Goods said the results confirmed the benefit of team collaboration and the partnership between services that underpinned the San Integrated Cancer Centre.

“While cancer carers are traditionally humble and focused on the caring they provide, earning this ranking three years in a row is a significant victory of which they should be very proud,” Goods says. “These continued excellent patient experience results are a credit to every team member involved in patient care and are proof of how providing integrated care maximizes the patient experience.”

The San Integrated Cancer Centre offers a comprehensive approach to cancer care for the local community, including medical oncology and radiation oncology services under one roof. Radiation oncology services are provided by Icon Cancer Centre, which is part of Icon Group—Australia’s largest dedicated cancer care provider.

Icon Cancer Centre radiation oncologist Dr. Andrew Fong said the results are a reflection of a strong commitment to providing the best possible cancer care closer to home.

“Radiation services have been provided for exceptional cancer care here in partnership with the Sydney Adventist Hospital for more than 44 years,” Fong says.

Gavin Marx, hospital clinical director of cancer services and associate professor, said the results are a credit to all the passionate and dedicated individuals who work at the Integrated Cancer Centre and who form an integral part of the patient experience from diagnosis, to treatment, to discharge, and all the support before, during and after.

“The hospital facilities are excellent; however, it is the expertise of all the individuals underpinned by their genuine empathy and commitment to quality which I believe has resulted in these impressive results for the third year running,” Marx says. “The cancer patient’s experience can be broad, stressful, and traumatic simply because of the complex nature of cancer. This is why every interaction a patient has with hospital team members along the way can influence how patients and their carers cope, how they respond, and the ultimate outcomes.”

This article was originally published on the website of Adventist Record