Objective This study evaluates satisfaction with care (SC) in cancer patients treated at a Spanish day hospital to identify SC determinants and assess the relationship between SC and quality of life. Methods One hundred seventy‐six patients with different tumour sites and disease stages completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ‐C30), the Cancer Outpatient Satisfaction with Care questionnaire for chemotherapy (OUT‐PATSAT35 CT), the Oberst patients' perception of care quality and satisfaction scales, and an item on intention to recommend the hospital. Frequencies in the SC instruments, Spearman correlations between each scale of the OUT‐PATSAT35 CT and overall satisfaction and between the subscales of OUT‐PATSAT35 CT and of QLQ‐C30 were calculated, and the determinants of patients' SC were calculated through multivariate regression models. Results Satisfaction with care was high: mean scores were >70 in all OUT‐PATSAT35 CT areas except doctor availability and environment. These scores were in line with the other SC instruments. Correlation with overall satisfaction was high and statistically significant (p < 0.01) for all subscales, especially for the nurses domain, which also had higher SC scores. Correlations between the EORTC QLQ‐C30 and the OUT‐PATSAT35 CT were low (≤0.35). Younger patients and those with breast cancer showed significantly lower satisfaction in most subscales. Unmarried patients and patients that had undergone surgery reported lower satisfaction only in specific subscales. Conclusions Satisfaction with care among cancer patients treated at the day hospital is high. Nurses play a key and successful role. Age and tumour location revealed stronger relationships with SC. Correlations between SC and quality of life indicate that these concepts are complementary. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.