Patient experiences with cancer care in Switzerland: results of the SCAPE-CH survey

Introduction The Swiss Cancer Patient Experiences (SCAPE) surveys aim to establish the standardized and regular collection of patient-reported experiences of cancer care (PREMs) in Switzerland. These measures are essential for assessing the quality of health services and determining whether health services are meeting patients’ needs (responsive care). They are particularly important to evaluate care for people with chronical diseases such as cancer, as their care pathway is often long-term and complex, involving a multitude of health professionals. Methods The third iteration of the SCAPE survey (SCAPE-CH) invited patients who received cancer care between January and June 2023 from 21 cancer centers across all language regions in Switzerland to complete a questionnaire (either on paper or online). The questionnaire included questions about experiences of care before the diagnosis, at diagnosis (e.g., diagnostic testing, communication about the cancer diagnosis, decision-making about the cancer treatment), during 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 and survivorship care. It also included questions on socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. Results Of the nearly 17,000 patients invited to take part, over 7,300 have completed the questionnaire so far, representing a participation rate of around 45%. We will provide further insights on the main results of the SCAPE-CH survey. Conclusion The SCAPE surveys have demonstrated the feasibility of collecting data on patient-reported experiences of care (PREMs) within the Swiss oncology sector, in the three main Swiss languages and English. This initiative has laid the foundations for evaluating the current responsiveness of cancer care, delineating the differences across regions and cancer diagnoses, and establishing a framework for monitoring the quality of care according to patients' perspectives.