Brief description of the project 

‘Accelerate, Coordinate, Evaluate’ (ACE) Multidisciplinary Diagnostic Collaborative (MDC)’ is an innovative diagnostic pathway that challenges ‘silos’ in healthcare.

The ACE pathway sets out to improve patients’ experience and outcomes by providing rapid access to achieve a diagnosis (one of which could be cancer, but this is not exclusive) for people with non-specific, but concerning symptoms. We now want to conduct a survey to gain feedback from patients who have recently been through ACE to gain a better understanding of the quality of care and service we provide to our patients.

 Who did we speak to? 

Patients who recently accessed the ACE pathway (within a month of them accessing it) were asked if they would complete a simple survey. People had the option of completing it via a scheduled telephone call (supported by Leeds Hospital Teaching Trust Patient Involvement Team) or via a paper survey, or via an online link.

What and how did we ask?

A survey was created to gain insight into patient’s experiences of the ACE pathway. The aim of this survey was to help us to get a better understanding of the patient’s experiences at the start of the pathway; the aim being to ask further questions at different stages of the ACE patient journey

What did people tell us?

• 39% were in receipt of an explanation for their referral by a doctor.
• 65% did not receive a leaflet explaining ACE.
• 23% of respondents said the leaflet wasn’t really helpful.
• Many patients gave extremely positive feedback about specific Cancer Nurse Specialists.

What did we do? 

• 39% of respondents said that the Dr explained why they had been referred & 65% of respondents were not given a leaflet explaining ACE – It was recommended that GP’s had the feedback to the ACE survey shared with them, and to be given reminders of the importance of explaining the ACE process to patients.
• 23% did not find the leaflet helpful – We asked for feedback on how it could be improved. We then used this feedback to redesign the patient leaflet.
• Many patients gave extremely positive feedback about specific Cancer Nurse Specialists (CNS’s).

If you would like to read more information about this engagement please see the downloads section below.

If you have any questions about this engagement please contact on leedsccg.comms@nhs.net or 0113 843 5470.

Downloads: