New public health survey uncovers hidden burden of healthcare and shows homecare as a strong solution
As part of the Sciensus Connected Care Report, produced in partnership with The Purpose Coalition, we commissioned new public research into how UK adults perceive specialist healthcare in the home, with a particular focus on cancer treatments. More than two thousand UK adults were surveyed to understand the public’s expectations of cancer care, what they believe is clinically possible at home, and where the gaps in understanding remain.
The intention behind the research was to ground the ongoing policy conversation about the future of UK cancer care in evidence about what the public actually values and expects. The findings indicate consistent public confidence in the principle of home-based cancer care, alongside a significant and measurable gap in awareness of what is already routinely and safely delivered outside the hospital setting.
Public confidence strong in home-based cancer care
Asked whether specialist treatment, such as cancer treatment, at home can be just as safe as receiving it in hospital, more than half of respondents agreed, with 20% strongly agreeing and a further 36% agreeing. Only 13% disagreed, and the remainder were either neutral or unsure. The pattern suggests that the population is broadly receptive to home-based cancer care as a clinically credible model, and that further visibility of the evidence supporting it could shift the undecided proportion meaningfully.
A significant gap in awareness of what is already possible at home
Despite this confidence, awareness of the specific treatments that can be safely delivered in the home varies considerably. The public is most familiar with the home delivery of wound care and dressings, with 72% identifying it as something that can be done at home, followed by end-of-life care at 47% and blood tests and ECG monitoring at 44% each. Awareness drops sharply when more specialised interventions are considered: only 23% of respondents identified medical IV infusions as something that can be safely delivered at home, and only 12% identified chemotherapy.
Sciensus already provides industry-leading complex cancer treatment, including systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT), in patients’ homes across the UK as an established part of its clinical service. The data suggests that the clinical and operational feasibility of home-based cancer care is significantly better established than the public’s understanding of it.
The hidden costs of frequent hospital attendance
Cancer treatment typically requires sustained engagement with hospital services, and the survey asked respondents to identify the aspects of hospital attendance that concern them most. Practical, non-clinical costs were dominant. The cost of fuel, public transport and parking was cited by 57% of respondents as the most significant hidden cost, followed by the physical and mental exhaustion of frequent appointments and journeys at 49% and the time spent waiting and travelling at 48%.
The impact on working life is similarly significant. Among working adults, 65% reported that regular medical appointments during working hours would directly affect their employment. Within that group, 31% expected to lose earnings or take unpaid leave, 27% would use their annual leave and 15% indicated that they may have to leave their job entirely. For patients receiving cancer treatment, where appointments are frequent and can extend over months or years, these costs accumulate in ways that are rarely captured in formal healthcare statistics but which materially shape patient experience and outcomes.
The wider benefits of receiving treatment at home
When asked about the wider impact of home-based care, 71% of respondents agreed that being able to manage a long-term condition at home would help them feel more confident about staying in their job or in education. A further 72% indicated that receiving treatment at home would make them feel better overall and would reduce the need to contact their healthcare provider to manage side effects or symptoms.
For cancer patients in particular, these outcomes are not incidental: they relate directly to financial stability, family life and the ability to maintain a sense of continuity through a period of significant medical disruption.
Positive impact on public priorities for NHS reform
Asked about the planned 10-year NHS reform, respondents distributed their support relatively evenly between continued investment in hospital capacity and an expansion of community- and home-based care. Of those surveyed, 48% supported building new, larger hospitals, while 47% supported the development of local community health pods to reduce travel and 47% supported strengthening specialist teams who can deliver complex treatments such as chemotherapy or dialysis in the home. A further 40% supported expanded remote monitoring to enable earlier hospital discharge.
Taken together, these results suggest that the public does not see the future of UK cancer care as a binary choice between hospital expansion and home-based delivery. The strongest mandate is for an integrated model in which each setting plays the role it is best placed to play, with greater visibility of home-based options forming part of the patient-facing offer.
A leading cancer care model already making an impact
Sciensus supports thousands of UK cancer patients each year with specialist home-based care, including the delivery of SACT by oncology nurses, supported by advanced compounding, nationwide medicine distribution and 24-hour clinical access. Our recently announced partnership with One Heart Clinic extends this model further, bringing specialist ECG monitoring into the home and reducing the need for additional hospital visits during cancer treatment.
Findings of this kind reinforce the importance of continuing to build, evaluate and communicate the clinical evidence base for home-based cancer care, both to the public and to the healthcare professionals who refer patients into these pathways.
The evidence from this survey indicates that the UK public is broadly supportive of home-based cancer care, that the practical and clinical infrastructure to deliver it already exists in significant parts of the country and that the most material constraint is awareness rather than capability. Closing that gap, through clearer public communication, more proactive integration into patient pathways and continued investment in the model, represents one of the most direct opportunities to align UK cancer care with what patients and the wider public have made clear they want.