The Swiss Cancer Patient Experiences (SCAPE)-1 study: a multicenter cross-sectional survey of patient experiences with cancer care in French-speaking Switzerland

Patients’ perspective and experiences of care are a central element of health services research, especially when evaluating the quality of health services and the overall performance of the healthcare system. Despite the growing interest in quality improvement in cancer care, there was no large-scale measurement of patient-reported experiences of cancer care available in Switzerland. The purpose of this study was to measure experiences of care reported by patients treated for breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, skin or blood cancer in four hospitals in French-speaking Switzerland.

Patients received the French version of the NHS Cancer Patient Experience Survey at home, with the possibility of completing the questionnaire online. The questionnaire included questions about experiences of care before going to the hospital for cancer treatment, cancer diagnostic testing, communication about the cancer diagnosis, decision-making about the cancer treatment, inpatient and outpatient care at the hospital (including experiences related to cancer surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy), as well as experiences with home care and support after hospital discharge. It also included a question on overall satisfaction with cancer care.

For the first time in Switzerland, the results of the study provided an overview of how patients experience cancer care; they also helped guide the development and implementation of interventions and care models to improve cancer care, by identifying aspects of cancer care that were less positively evaluated by patients.

Communiqué de presse du 26.10.2020: SCAPE donne la parole à plus de 7'000 patient·es atteint·es de cancer