Stepping Hill Hospital’s outpatient cancer services have been given top marks for the care they offer patients.

The hospital’s Laurel Suite received the Quality Mark following an accreditation from The Christie, which is an international leader in cancer care.

An independent team of inspectors, which included both patient representatives and cancer nurses from other hospitals, assessed the services as part of The Christie accreditation. They looked into areas including safety, good communication with patients, friendliness and openness of staff, high standards of documentation and overall quality of care.

Interviews and questionnaires were carried out with patients who said they were extremely pleased with the standards of care they received. The suite also received overwhelmingly positive results from the last year’s National Cancer Patient Experience Survey as well, with patients frequently complimenting the ‘caring’ and ‘comforting’ nature of the service.

The hospital’s Laurel Suite provides chemotherapy and supportive drug treatments to more than 3,800 patients a year. The patients have breast or colorectal cancer, or blood-related conditions which can include cancer.

 Colin Wasson, Medical Director for Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Stepping Hill Hospital, said “We often hear of high praise from the patients at our Laurel Suite for the outstanding personal care they receive, and so it is very satisfying to see that confirmed by this much deserved accreditation from The Christie.”