Presentation of information to cancer patients: a comparison of two centres in the UK and USA.

A questionnaire survey was carried out to compare the views of cancer patients at a UK and USA hospital with respect to the nature and sources of the information they received about their condition. Although there were many similarities, differences did emerge in the way the diagnosis was confirmed to the patient, the desire for additional information and the sources of such information. Among the UK patients 20 per cent reported that confirmation of their diagnosis had been delegated to junior staff, 30 per cent felt that their doctors did not have sufficient time to talk to them and 70 per cent stated that they relied on non-medical sources for information about cancer. These findings indicate that there is considerable scope for improvement in communicating with cancer patients in the UK.