Publication - Statistics
Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey 2024: technical report
This report provides information on the technical aspects of the 2024 Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey (SCPES), including development, implementation, analysis and reporting.
Annex B – Questions that were changed in the 2024 survey
| 2024 Question number | 2024 Topic | 2024 Question Text | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Getting diagnosed | How long was it from the time you first thought something might be wrong with you until you first contacted a healthcare professional or your General Practice? | Question order changed to improve question flow. |
| 2 | Getting diagnosed | Before you were told you needed to go to hospital about cancer, how many times did you see a healthcare professional at your General Practice about the health problem caused by cancer? You should count telephone, video and face to face consultations in your answer | Additional instructions added to reflect changes in how patients may consult with healthcare professionals. |
| 3 | Getting diagnosed | How do you feel about the length of time you had to wait before your first appointment with a healthcare professional at the hospital? | Phrasing of question changed to accommodate the possibility that patients may see other types of healthcare professional when they have their first appointment at a hospital. |
| 7 | Finding out you had cancer | When you were first told that you had cancer, were you told in advance that you could bring a family member or friend with you? Please tick all that apply. | Question wording, instructions and response options updated so that more detailed information can be collected. |
| 10 | Finding out you had cancer | When you were told you had cancer, were you given written information about the type of cancer you had? Written information could include printed information handed to you or posted to you, or online information you were directed towards by your clinical team. | Additional instructions added to clarify to the survey recipient the types of information that were relevant to the question |
| 11 | Deciding the best treatment for you | Before your treatment started, were your treatment options explained to you? | Response options simplified |
| 2024 Question number | 2024 Topic | 2024 Question Text | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Deciding the best treatment for you | Were the possible side effects of treatment(s) explained in a way you could understand? | Response options simplified |
| 15 | Deciding the best treatment for you | Before you started your treatment(s), were you also told about any side-effects of the treatment that could affect you in the future rather than straight away? | Response options simplified |
| 22 | Operations, Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy | Knowing what you know now, did you have all the information you needed about your radiotherapy treatment beforehand? | Response options simplified |
| 23 | Operations, Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy | Have you had chemotherapy treatment? | Minor change to the response options to reflect changes to where chemotherapy treatment may be provided |
| 24 | Operations, Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy | Knowing what you know now, did you have all the information you needed about your chemotherapy treatment beforehand? | Response options simplified |
| 25f | Hospital Care | They did not talk in front of me as if I wasn't there | Wording changed to ensure that all questions are consistent within this section. |
| 28 | Hospital Care | Did a healthcare professional tell you who to contact if you were worried about your condition or treatment? | Response options updated to collect more information |
| 29 | Hospital Care | A Clinical Nurse Specialist is a specialist cancer nurse who helps you get the right care and gives you help and advice on coping with cancer. Were you given the name of a Clinical Nurse Specialist, or another named contact, who would support you through your treatment? | Minor wording change to reflect that patients may not know that the contact was a CNS or that they have been given the contact for a different type of healthcare professional. Question has moved to a different section. Response options have been updated to collect more detail. |
| 2024 Question number | 2024 Topic | 2024 Question Text | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Hospital Care | When you have had important questions to ask your Clinical Nurse Specialist, or named contact, how often did you get answers you could understand? | Minor wording change to reflect that patients may not know that the contact was a CNS or that they have been given the contact for a different type of healthcare professional. Question has moved to a different section. |
| 33 | Wider Support | Thinking about the last time you left the hospital named on the covering letter for cancer treatment, did healthcare professionals give your family, or someone close to you, all the information they needed to help care for you at home? | Question and response options updated following feedback from stakeholders. |
| 35 | Information and Other Support | Did healthcare professionals discuss with you or give you information about the impact cancer could have on your day-to-day activities? | Response options updated to collect more information |
| 38 | Information and Other Support | During your cancer treatment, were you given timely information about charity, voluntary or community groups that could support you? | Question changed to broaden the scope and better reflect the types of groups and support available to patients. |
| 39 | Information and Other Support | Do you feel you were supported practically, emotionally or psychologically by charity, voluntary or community groups during your cancer treatment? | Scope of question expanded to include more types of support that may be provided. |
| 40 | Information and Other Support | Once your cancer treatment finished, were you given information about charity, voluntary or community groups that could support you? | |
| 41 | Information and Other Support | Do you feel you were supported practically, emotionally or psychologically by charity, voluntary or community groups after your cancer treatment? | Scope of question expanded to include more types of support that may be provided. |
| 2024 Question number | 2024 Topic | 2024 Question Text | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | Your Overall Experience | A care plan is a document received after diagnosis which sets out your needs and goals. This may include what treatment has been planned for you and the emotional, practical and financial support you will receive. It is an agreed plan between you and your health or social care professionals. Have you been offered a written care plan? | Minor changes to the question wording. |
| 46 | Your Overall Experience | Which of the following difficulties did you experience when travelling to appointments relating to your cancer care? Please tick all that apply. | List of response options expanded |
| 52 | Your Overall Experience | Overall, how would you rate the administration of your care, for example getting letters at the right time, doctors having the right notes / test results, etc.? | Question rephrased to cover more than only communication about appointments. |
| 54 | Your Overall Experience | Since your diagnosis, has anyone discussed with you whether there are any cancer research opportunities that you could take part in (for example: clinical trials, tissue donation, additional scans, sharing data)? | Question rephrased to include more detail on the types of research that a cancer patient may be invited to participate in. |
| 57 | About You | Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation? Please tick one box only. | Question changed to better align to current equalities guidance on asking this question. |
| 58 | About You | What is your ethnic group? | Question changed to better align to current equalities guidance on asking this question. |
| 61 | About You | Do any of these conditions or illnesses affect you in any of the following areas? | Question changed to better align to current equalities guidance on asking this question. |
Contact
Email: patientexperience@gov.scot
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