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RCPCH surveys - privacy notice

Information Governance team
We care a lot about protecting the information of the people who provide us with their views and observations. The following explains how we use your information and how we make sure it stays safe, in line with UK data protection laws.

The RCPCH runs a number of different surveys, aimed at different groups of people. We have provided details below for each of our different survey types.
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RCPCH surveys

The RCPCH seeks the views of its members on a range of topics throughout the year, via surveys.  We do this to ensure we remain aligned with the issues and principles that matter to paediatricians.  We also seek feedback on the services we offer to our members to ensure these continue to meet your needs.

Our Clinical Audit team collects feedback from children and young people receiving care for diabetes, and their families.  This is to help diabetes teams across the UK to improve the care they provide to their patients. 

RCPCH workforce surveys

The College runs regular surveys on specific issues facing the paediatric workforce. These focus on a specific area of care or an issue that may be particularly relevant at the time.  The aim of these surveys is to understand member opinions and experiences and inform the development of our long term workforce plans.

Click or tap each section to find out more about your privacy and workforce surveys.

What data do we collect?

The data we collect in our surveys will come from the respondent. Some of the data may be indirect personal data such as qualifications, specialty training grade, role and organisation. We may ask for your email address to contact you regarding the survey. There may be free-text boxes into which you could enter potentially identifying information.

All Workforce survey data is published in an aggregated format, with any identifying data in free-text comments redacted.

Purposes

UKGDPR requires a legal basis for any processing of personal data. Our legal basis for processing your data is:

"Legitimate Interest” – where we have assessed that the benefits of us processing your data are legitimate and not outweighed by your interests or legal rights

Completion of our surveys is voluntary. However, we do encourage all recipients to submit data in their and the College's, legitimate interest as it will help us to target our resources and campaigning on issues that matter to the paediatric community, to develop action plans and support paediatricians in improving healthcare. By completing our surveys, you are agreeing for the raw data that we collect, which may include personal information about yourself, for the following purposes: 

  • To gain insight into the experiences of paediatricians in the workplace
  • To improve our services & support
  • To understand factors impacting child healthcare and healthcare resources
  • To shape future recruitment and workforce strategies, and policy messaging
  • To provide specific, opted-in individuals with further information on projects
  • Sharing as part of report & action plan – in an aggregated, redacted format
  • To cross-reference against existing data to identify changes over time
  • To use anonymised quotes in public content
Who we share your data with

We do not share any personal data with third parties for any purpose other than administering the survey.

We use Microsoft Forms to administer most of our surveys.  Your responses will be stored securely on the RCPCH network and only accessed by RCPCH staff. 

We will never publish raw data. If we want to publish data, any data that could be used to identify you will be removed or changed and only anonymised data will be used.  

Transferring information outside of the UK

To provide some products and services we, or our data processors, may transfer and process information in countries outside of the UK. Some of these countries, such as those in the EEA, will have an officially recognised equivalent level of protection to the UK (adequacy decision). A list of these countries can be found via the ICO website. Where there is no adequacy decision, we will take all reasonable steps necessary to ensure that your information is protected by having in place a recognised safeguard with our partners and suppliers, such as regulatory approved UK International Transfer Agreements, Binding Corporate Rules or Codes of Conduct. 

To find out more about any specific uses of information in countries outside of the UK, or for further information about the safeguards that we have put in place, please contact the RCPCH Data Protection Officer: information.governance@rcpch.ac.uk 

How long do we keep your data for?

The raw survey data will be kept until the summary report has been approved and published. After this, we will only keep anonymous data that is necessary for historical or research purposes until it is no longer required for this purpose. 

Feedback surveys

As part of our commitment to providing the best possible member experience, we periodically seek feedback on our resources, courses, platforms and services from members and service users. We do this to identify areas for improvement and to ensure our offers remain relevant and useful.

Click or tap each section to find out more about your privacy and feedback surveys.

What data do we collect?

All personal data will come from you.  We always collect the minimum necessary personal data for the survey.  Depending on the purpose of the survey, this may include your name, role, Trust/Hospital and/or email address.  We also include free-text boxes in many of our surveys into which you may enter potentially identifying information.

All survey data is published in an aggregated format, with any identifying data in free-text comments redacted.

Purposes

UKGDPR requires a legal basis for any processing of personal data. Our legal basis for processing your data is:

"Legitimate Interest” – where we have assessed that the benefits of us processing your data are legitimate and not outweighed by your interests or legal rights

Completion of our surveys is voluntary. However, we do encourage all recipients to submit data in their and the College's, legitimate interest as it will help us to understand the value of RCPCH courses, resources, materials, content and services, to determine where improvements can be made and to ensure the continued value of our offerings. By completing our surveys, you are agreeing for the raw data that we collect, which may include personal information about yourself, to be used for the following purposes:

  • To determine the value and utility of our materials, platforms, exams, courses and content, and to generate new content
  • To make improvements to our platforms, courses, exams, content, materials and/or services
  • To understand the skillsets of paediatricians and determine where additional training would be useful
  • To produce a report for RCPCH members and occasionally, where appropriate, professional bodies like the GMC, NHS England/Scotland
  • To contact individuals who have provided their email address for further information
  • To cross-reference against existing data to identify changes over time
  • To gather new content from members  
Who we share your data with

We do not share any personal data with third parties for any purpose other than administering the survey.

We use Microsoft Forms to administer most surveys.  Your responses will be stored securely on the RCPCH network and only accessed by RCPCH staff. 

We will never publish raw data. If we want to publish data, any data that could be used to identify you will be removed or changed and only anonymised data will be used. 

Transferring information outside the UK

To provide some products and services we, or our data processors, may transfer and process information in countries outside of the UK. Some of these countries, such as those in the EEA, will have an officially recognised equivalent level of protection to the UK (adequacy decision). A list of these countries can be found via the ICO website. Where there is no adequacy decision, we will take all reasonable steps necessary to ensure that your information is protected by having in place a recognised safeguard with our partners and suppliers, such as regulatory approved UK International Transfer Agreements, Binding Corporate Rules or Codes of Conduct. 

To find out more about any specific uses of information in countries outside of the UK, or for further information about the safeguards that we have put in place, please contact the RCPCH Data Protection Officer: information.governance@rcpch.ac.uk 

How long do we keep your data for?

The raw survey data will be kept until the summary report has been approved and published. After this, we will only keep anonymous data that is necessary for historical or research purposes until it is no longer required for this purpose. 

Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREMs)

Our Paediatric Diabetes Audit (NPDA) Team sometimes runs surveys called Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) to find out the experiences of children, young people and their families who go to diabetes clinics. These surveys help our audit team to show children's diabetes teams where they have done well and where they can improve. 

Click or tap each section to find out more about your privacy and PREMs.

What data do we collect

In our PREM surveys we collect information on sex, gender, and age. We always give the option of "prefer not to say". We collect this information so we can look at how different groups feel about their treatment.

We will never publish personal data and all reports will only use combined data.

Why do we collect this data

UKGDPR requires a legal basis for any processing of personal data. Our legal basis for processing your data is:

"Legitimate Interest” – where we have assessed that the benefits of us processing your data are legitimate and not outweighed by your interests or legal rights. 

You do not have to take part in the survey, but if you do, it will help your clinic to understand where they are doing well, and where they can do better.

The NPDA runs PREM surveys:

  • To find out how children, young people and their families feel about the treatment they get at clinics 
  • To tell clinics where they are doing well and where they can do better
  • To find out what is important to children, young people and their families when they attend clinic
  • To compare to previous PREMs surveys to see how things have changed
  • To produce reports for publication
Who we share your data with

We do not share any personal data with third parties for any purpose other than administering the survey.

Your data will be stored on the RCPCH network and only seen by RCPCH staff. 

We run PREM surveys on MS Forms and all data is stored within our network. All published reports will contain aggregated data with small numbers masked, any comments published will have any identifying data removed before publication.

Transferring information outside of the UK

Sometimes, we need to send and use your information in other countries to provide our products and services. Some of these countries, like those in the European Economic Area (EEA), have rules that protect your information just like in the UK. You can find a list of these countries on the ICO website.

If a country doesn't have these rules, we will do everything we can to keep your information safe. We will use special agreements with our partners and suppliers to make sure your information is protected.

If you want to know more about the safety measures we have for storing information in other countries, please email the RCPCH Data Protection Officer at: information.governance@rcpch.ac.uk.

How long do we keep your data for?

The surveys will be kept until the report has been approved and published. After this, we will only keep anonymous data that is necessary for historical or research purposes until it is no longer required for this purpose. 

Understanding GDPR and your data rights

To help you understand more about the information in this and all our privacy notices, see our page, Understanding GDPR and your data rights. This explains common words and phrases used in our privacy notices, describes our use of artificial intelligence (AI) and details the rights you have in relation to the processing of your personal data under UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

Changes to this policy

If the privacy policy changes in any way, we will place an updated version on the website. Regularly reviewing the privacy policy page ensures you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we will share it with other parties. 

Last reviewed July 2025