Cancer Prehabilitation: Staff perspectives on implementation

Annex B: Information sheet and Privacy Notice

Project title

Scotland’s Cancer Strategy: Staff perspectives on the implementation of cancer prehabilitation

About the project

I am a Scottish Government researcher working on a project to improve our understanding of what is helping or hindering the rollout of cancer prehabilitation (pre-treatment), to inform development of the second Cancer Action Plan. This project is a follow on from a national survey of staff and stakeholders in cancer prehabilitation and rehabilitation.

The aim of the focus groups is to gather in-depth insights into how cancer prehabilitation is implemented as a core component of treatment preparation, and how rehabilitation is integrated as part of the continuum of care – and what additional support could help. Focus groups will explore topics such as cross-sector partnerships and collaboration, cancer prehabilitation pathways, and service re-design and renewal. Findings will be used, alongside other evaluation evidence, to shape the second Cancer Action Plan.

Why have I been invited to take part?

You have been invited to take part in this project because you either:

• Participated in the survey (above) and indicated that you were willing to be contacted about follow up focus groups, or,
• Work in cancer prehabilitation and/ or rehabilitation and are a member of the Scottish Associate Directors of Allied Health Professionals, the Cancer Managers Forum or the Scottish Cancer Coalition.

Do I have to take part?

No. You do not have to take part. Taking part, or not taking part, will not affect you, your employment, or membership of any professional group.

If you do decide to take part in a focus group, you can withdraw your participation at any time without needing to explain why and without penalty, please just let the researcher know. There may be an opportunity to withdraw your contribution, within limits, once the focus group has taken place (see the accompanying Privacy Notice). To withdraw, please email XXX@gov.scot

What will happen if I take part?

If you decide to take part you will be asked to read this Information Sheet and complete a consent form on Microsoft Forms to show you are happy to take part and understand what participation will involve. Options will be provided for the times and main topics of focus groups, for you to choose from.

You will then be sent a link to a focus group, along with up to five other staff working in cancer prehabilitation and/or rehabilitation. The focus group will take a maximum of 60 minutes. It will be convened by a Scottish Government researcher and cofacilitated by the Macmillan National Improvement Advisor for Prehabilitation at NHS Scotland’s Centre for Sustainable Delivery. The focus group will be undertaken via a videocall over Microsoft Teams.

In the focus group, the facilitator will ask open questions to the group about your views on what helps or hinders the implementation of cancer prehabilitation.

The following ground rules will guide what is in and out of scope for discussion:

• No Sharing of Identifiable Information: You will not be asked to disclose any personal information about yourself or patients you work with. Please ensure that you are not sharing personal information in this way. You should only share what you are comfortable with.
• Respect for Privacy: Your experiences can be shared, but only if they do not compromise the privacy of others, such as colleagues or patients.
• Anonymity of Contributions: You should not repeat or attribute comments outside the focus group session. 
• Voluntary Disclosure: You should only share what you are comfortable with.
• No Recording Without Consent: The transcription function will be enabled with prior informed consent from all participants. No private recordings are allowed.
• Facilitator's Role: The facilitator may intervene if sensitive or inappropriate information is shared, to protect confidentiality and redirect the discussion.

Transcript files will be uploaded to MaxQDA to help with coding and analysing the qualitative data, as explained in the Privacy Notice. The research team will carry out thematic analysis to identify key themes and issues, and assess the outputs of MaxQDA. Project findings will be written up in a report and published on the Scottish Government website.

Are there any potential risks in taking part?

While the ground rules above aim to keep discussion focused on general views about cancer prehabilitation and its implementation, identifiable information about people or organisations may be discussed during the focus group unintentionally. Any identifiable information (excluding professional role) will be deleted from the transcript prior to analysis. Any quotes used in reports will only be presented alongside a broad professional group so that individuals and organisations cannot be identified.

What if I do not receive an invitation to a focus group after submitting my details?

Given project capacity, we plan to hold six focus groups in December 2025. We will invite individuals from a range of professional roles and experience of delivering cancer prehabilitation activities. Scheduling the focus groups will depend on availability across those invited. It may be that you submit contact details but are not able to contribute further, as more people respond than we can accommodate within these groups. In this case, we will respond to let you know.

What happens to the data I provide?

Please read the accompanying Privacy Notice for this project. This tells you more about how the Scottish Government securely handles your personal data.

Will the research be published?

We will write a report for the Cancer and Rehabilitation Unit and the Cancer Prehabilitation Oversight Group (CPOG) to guide policy development and implementation. This report will be published on the Scottish Government website. Your data will not be identifiable in any report or presentation.

Support for participation

Please let us know if there is anything that would make it easier for you to take part by contacting XXX@gov.scot. We will discuss your needs with you and try to make it as easy as possible for you to take part.

Your rights

Data protection legislation gives rights to individuals in respect of the personal data that organisations hold about them. More information about this can be found in the Privacy Notice we have provided.

Who do I contact if I have any questions, concerns about this study or I wish to complain?

If anything in this Information Sheet is not clear, or you would like us to talk you through it, please contact:

By email: XXX@gov.scot

By post: St. Andrews House, 2 Regent Road, Edinburgh EH1 3DG

If you have questions or concerns about how your personal data are being collected or used, or if you believe that we have not complied with your data protection rights, you can contact the Data Protection Officer at the Scottish Government. If you have questions about your personal data held by the data controller you can also contact the Data Protection Officer at the Scottish Government:

By email: DataProtectionOfficer@gov.scot

By post: Victoria Quay, Commercial Street, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ