Individual research recommendation details

Recommendation ID

NG2/1

Question

What are the causative and contributory factors underlying the persistently very low levels of reported patient satisfaction for bladder cancer?

Any explanatory notes
(if applicable)

The urological cancers grouping (which includes bladder cancer but excludes prostate cancer) has
consistently appeared near the bottom of the table of patient satisfaction comparisons of all cancer
types in national patient experience surveys. Prostate cancer (which is also managed in urological
services) is recorded separately and has continued to appear near the top of the tables. It is uncertain why this is the case, except that there is now an accepted link between the level of
clinical nurse specialist allocation, information and support provision and patient satisfaction. The
urological cancers grouping has the lowest level of clinical nurse specialist allocation in comparison
with all other cancer types or groupings (including prostate cancer). The prolonged pattern of
intrusive procedures that dominate investigation, treatment and follow-up regimens for bladder
cancer may also contribute to this position. Additionally, there is concern that people with bladder
cancer at or near the end of life, who are by that stage often quite frail and elderly, may not always have access to the full range of palliative and urological support and may, at times, be treated in general wards in hospital and experience significant symptoms of pain and bleeding (haematuria).
To explore this research question bladder cancer patients need to be identified separately from the
generic group of urological cancer patients in nationally collected data sets.

Source guidance details

Comes from guidance

Bladder cancer: diagnosis and management

Number

NG2

Date issued

February 2015

Other details