Health and Care Experience Survey 2021 to 2022: national results

6. Care, Support and Help with Everyday Living

Use of Care Services

The survey asks respondents if they had received any help or support for everyday living in the last twelve months and the type of support they received; 10% said that they had received some form of support and 3% said that they had not received any help but felt that they needed it. Figure 6.1 details the different type(s) of support that the 10% indicated they received.

^a Respondents were able to tick more than one response and the proportion who indicated 'no' (90%) are not presented.

The help and support that people receive is funded through the public, third or private sectors, by family/friends or is unpaid. Most of those who need help with everyday living said they or their family funded this or they received unpaid care from friends and family carers. Since the last survey there has been an increase in unpaid care received and a corresponding fall in respondents reporting funding from public sector organisations^[4] and other sources.

Note: respondents may receive care from more than one source so percentages don't add to 100.

Experiences of Care Services

Of those who indicated that they had received help from services other than family and friends, 62% of people rated the overall help, care or support services as either excellent or good (Figure 6.3). This represents a continuing decline since the survey began.

However, when looking at the reported experiences of specific aspects of care and support (Figure 6.4), people were generally positive about the care that they received:

• 70% of people indicated that they were treated with compassion and understanding;
• 67% of people reported they felt safe;
• 65% reported that they were supported to live as independently as possible.

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 54% and 53% positive responses respectively.

"GP did not provide information of which support services were available to me, once I approached them myself, services were not well coordinated."

"Choices are limited and individual needs and wants are not prioritised. Existing disability services meet the needs of different service users and suit some disabled clients better than others."

"The main issue is lack of coordination between the Council and the NHS."

36% of people said that they had a choice in how their social care is arranged, while 24% said that they were not offered any choices. Choices appear to have been more restricted in 2020/21 compared to 2019/20.