Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey 2024: technical report

Data Entry and Fieldwork Quality Control

Data Capture

Once respondents received the initial letter, they could complete the questionnaire online or via the survey helpline. Data from these responses was captured automatically for the online questionnaire, or by the helpline team for telephone completions.

Following the reminder letter, paper copies of questionnaires received were logged and scanned on a daily basis by the survey contractor. A verification process was then carried out for each batch scanned and a number of integrity checks were undertaken to ensure that the scanning process had worked correctly and all data had been captured as expected.

Data from online questionnaires was automatically stored alongside the data from the paper questionnaires, and held separately from the names and addresses of people who were sampled for the survey.

Verification and Upload Process

Once captured, all data were checked in house by the survey contractor according to pre-set verification rules, by staff who have been given training and detailed instructions about the survey. The data entry system ensured that only valid answer codes for each question could be entered and that the correct data appeared in each field. Other checks included ensuring that numeric data was the correct format and that fields were not truncated in error.

Once the survey responses were transferred to Public Health Scotland and Scottish Government statisticians, further validation checks were run on the data to ensure data integrity was maintained.

Secure Disposal

The names and addresses of people who were selected for the survey were stored securely by the survey contractor until the survey fieldwork was completed and then deleted.

Once processed, all returned questionnaires were immediately stored by the survey contractor in labelled containers and archived in a secure room on-site. Once the survey fieldwork was complete and all questionnaires had been scanned in, the paper copies of the questionnaires were securely destroyed. The data files containing the survey responses and scanned copies of the questionnaires which were held by the survey contractor were deleted once the data had been transmitted to Public Health Scotland and the Scottish Government, and Public Health Scotland and the Scottish Government had completed their checks on the survey data.

On the 27^th June 2024, the survey contractor provided the Scottish Government with a Certificate of Data Destruction confirming that all data related to survey recipients or their responses to the survey had been securely destroyed.

Free Text Comments

The survey asked respondents if there was anything that was particularly good about their care, if there was anything that could be improved and for any other comments they may have.

3,321 survey respondents left a total of 6,965 free-text comments. Details that could be used to identify people were redacted by the survey contractor. These details included personal names, addresses, medical conditions and dates. Staff names and unique details were also redacted.

Quality checks were undertaken on records to ensure that the instructions for redacting details that might identify an individual were followed.