Investigating Attitudes to Gynaecological Rapid Access, Cancer Exclusion and Follow Up Location (GRACEFUL Study)

Gynaecological oncology (cancer) place of care is often based on evolution of services, along historical professional boundaries, rather than user needs or preferences. The investigators aim to gather views of patients in the United Kingdom (UK) on their preferred place of care for investigation, treatment and follow-up of gynaecological cancer. An initial scoping review found no previous work in this area. Pilot work, performed to inform local re-organisation of services, found that 53% of participants were somewhat or very unhappy to have care co-located with O&G services. Specifically, two key themes were identified through content analysis of free-text comments: "environment and getting this right is vital"; and "our cancer should be the priority".

However, via a BGCS survey, the investigator found that healthcare professionals (HCPs) underestimated strong patient preferences. Of those who see patients within O&G services, only 50% said patients were seen at separate times/locations from obstetric patients. The investigators want to expand on these pilot data to better understand how to design services that better meet our patients' needs. The investigators will conduct a survey to ascertain service users' attitudes to location of services, collecting quantitative data & qualitative data, including opportunities for feedback in free text. The investigator will conduct analysis using standard statistical methods & content analysis of free-text responses. Submissions will be anonymous & no identifiable data will be collected routinely, unless volunteered by the respondent. The investigator will ask a subset of ~30 participants to undertake a telephone/virtual-based semi-structured interview to further explore understanding on attitudes to location of care more generally. A topic guide will be developed, informed by the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability. Interviews will be audio-recorded with consent, transcribed verbatim & anonymised. The anonymised transcripts will be analysed using a form of Thematic Analysis. These findings should help to shape future health care service sensitive to patient need.