TWO hospital trusts running services for patients in Bradford and the wider district have been urged to "urgently address" the feedback they give to cancer patients.

Cancer Support UK was reacting to the findings of this year's National Cancer Patient Experience Survey, which revealed around a third of people receiving treatment at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Airedale NHS Foundation Trust were not being kept fully informed about whether their treatment is working.

The survey, carried out by NHS England, monitors patients' impressions of their diagnosis, treatment, and aftercare.

It showed experiences of cancer patients across England were "generally very positive", with patients giving an average rating of 8.8 out of ten for their overall care.

For Bradford, this figure was 8.66, an improvement on the previous year, while for Airedale it was 8.7, a slight deterioration on 2016.

Some 65 per cent of patients at the Bradford Trust answered 'yes, completely' when asked if they had been given enough information.

The rest answered 'yes, to some extent' or 'no', which were both counted as negative responses.

The results were worse for patients having chemotherapy than for those undergoing radiotherapy - just 63 per cent of the former said they had enough information, compared to 69 per cent of the latter. The results in Airedale were 68 per cent and 74 per cent respectively.

Some 69 per cent of patients at the Airedale Trust answered 'yes, completely' when they were asked about the information they received.

Gemma Holding, chief executive of Cancer Support, said the survey showed post-treatment support options needed to be "urgently addressed".

She added: "Inequalities in health and well-being provision across the UK mean that some patients - based on where they live - have better access to, and receive higher quality health care than others.

Stacey Hunter, chief operating officer of Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are pleased that two thirds of our patients feel that they are well-informed, but want all our patients to feel this way, so we are developing plans to make sure this happens. This includes working closely with other colleagues across the region where the cancer pathways cross more than one trust – for example a local patient may have surgery at a different trust and then come back to us for follow up treatment."