Objective:

To analyse a patient journey based on the experience reported by breast and lung cancer patients at Spanish hospital.

Method:

A mixed design was used, with interviews with 16 health professionals and 25 patients (qualitative method) and a Net Promoter Score questionnaire to 127 patients (quantitative method). Inclusion criteria: oncology patients > 18 years treated in hospital between February- May 2019. Exclusion criteria: paediatric patients, in palliative care or who were hospitalised at the time of the study.

Results:

Six phases were identified from the data obtained in the qualitative method: my life before diagnosis; discovery; initiation; treatment; follow- up; and my current life. In the my life before diagnosis phase, a functional level of experience was established, as patients’ lives met their expectations. In the discovery phase, patients’ expectations were observed to be met, although several satellite experiences were found. In the initiation phase, the experience tended to be negative due to long waiting times and emotional and physical stress. The treatment phase was defined as a basic-poor experience, due to waiting times and lack of institutional support. The experience in the follow-up phase was positive in terms of tests and visits, but critical points were observed in waiting times. In the current phase, the effort made by health professionals to ensure the best possible treatment and care was mentioned. In terms of quantitative analysis, a positive score (46%) was obtained for the Net Promoter Score indicator, as 60% of patients were promoters, i.e., they were satisfied with the service offered by the hospital.

Conclusions:

This study provides insight into the experience of cancer patients in the six main stages of the disease. The most positive phases were “my life before diagnosis” and “follow-up” while the phases with a negative trend were “initiation” and “treatment” due to the waiting times and the emotional burden on the patient.