Health and care experience survey 2017 to 2018: national results
Results from survey asking about people’s experiences of GP practices and other local healthcare services.
9. Care, Support and Help with Everyday Living
Summary
- Of those who received formal help and support, 80 per cent rated the overall help, care or support services as either excellent or good. This is slightly lower than the results from the 2015/16 survey and a decrease from 83 per cent in 2013/14.
- As in previous surveys, users of care services were generally positive about some of the person-centred aspects of the care that they received. For example, 87 per cent said that they were treated with compassion and understanding. Eighty two per cent reported that people took account of the things that matter to them, although this has decreased from 88 per cent in 2013/14.
- Users of care services were least positive about being aware of the help, care and support options available (73 per cent were positive) and the co-ordination of services (74 per cent). These results are similar to those from the previous survey.
- There has been a continued decrease in the percentage of people who said that they had a say in how their help, care or support was provided, from 83 per cent in 2013/14 to 76 per cent in 2017/18.
Introduction
Chapter 4 of this report describes the wide reaching and ambitious programme of reform which has been put in place to improve services for people who require health and social care support. This focuses on the aim of providing joined up care provision and, crucially, empowering people to be in control of the support that they receive. These reforms are being delivered through the Health and Social Care Partnerships, created in 2015 and 2016.
Use of Care Services
People were asked to indicate if they had received any help or support for everyday living in the last 12 months and the type of support they received; Table 2 details the different type(s) of support.
Of those surveyed, nine per cent said that they had received some form of support and two per cent said that they had not received any help but felt that they needed it.
Table 2: Help or support with everyday living in the last 12 months
| Help required [25] | % |
|---|---|
| Yes, for personal and or household t asks | 6 |
| Yes, for activities outside home | 4 |
| Yes, for adaptations / equipment for home | 3 |
| Yes, for help to look after someone else | 2 |
| No, not had any help but felt it was needed | 2 |
| No, not had any help | 88 |
People who indicated that they received help and support for everyday living were asked whether this was from formal services [26] . Sixty per cent of those who need help with everyday living said that their help was provided by formal services, suggesting that a sizeable proportion of people (40 per cent) receive assistance with everyday living outside of formal service provision, perhaps from friends and family. This finding underlines the important contribution of unpaid carers to society in providing care to those that need it.
Experiences of Care Services
People who indicated that they had received help and support from formal services were asked to rate their overall experiences of these services. In total 80 per cent of people rated the overall help, care or support services as either excellent or good, which is slightly lower than the results from the 2015/16 survey and a decrease from 83 per cent in 2013/14. Five per cent rated it as poor or very poor, which is also similar to previous surveys (Figure 9.1).
Figure 9.1: Overall, how would you rate your help, care or support services?
Looking at the reported experiences of specific aspects of care and support (Figure 9.2), people were generally positive about some of the person-centred aspects of the care that they received:
- 87 per cent of people indicated that they were treated with compassion and understanding, which is the same as the last survey;
- 83 per cent of people reported they felt safe, similar to the previous survey;
Although 82 per cent reported that people took account of the things that matter to them, this has decreased from 88 per cent in 2013/14.
Figure 9.2: Percentage of people strongly agreeing or agreeing with statements about the help, care and support that they receive
People were least positive about the co-ordination of health and care services and awareness of the support options available to them. These were the lowest scoring statements, with a 74 and 73 per cent positive response respectively in 2017/18.
There has been a continued decrease in the percentage of people who said that they had a say in how their help, care or support was provided, from 83 per cent in 2013/14 to 76 per cent in 2017/18. When specifically asked whether or not they had a choice in how their social care was arranged, 60 per cent of social care users said that they did; a seven percentage point fall from the previous survey. Fourteen per cent of people said that they didn't have a choice because of medical reasons, which is twice as many as in the last survey. Ten per cent said that they were not offered any choices in their care and four per cent said that they didn't want a choice.
Figure 9.3: Which of the following applies to you and how your social care is arranged?
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