This week, I spoke in a Parliamentary debate about the experience of cancer patients.

How patients and their families are treated by NHS staff is absolutely crucial at such a frightening time in their life. A good experience not only makes people feel supported and respected but can also improve their outcomes, for example by increasing the likelihood they will stick to their treatments and medicines and reducing their length of stay in hospital.

When I talk to cancer patients about what makes for a good experience, they say its about being involved in their care, having staff who communicate well, and properly joined up support from their hospital, community and other services, including financial information and benefits advice.

I think there’s much more we should do to put patient experience at the heart of the NHS. You can find out more by reading the speech I gave here or watch the debate here (my speech starts at 10:34).