Health and Care Experience Survey 2021 to 2022: technical report

This report provides information on the technical aspects of the 2021/22 Health and Care Experience Survey, including development, implementation, analysis and reporting.


Annex A: Changes to 2021/22 Questionnaire

Table 1: New questions for the 2021/22 survey

Quest. No. Topic Question Text Reason
8 GP Practice Were you offered a choice in the kind of appointment you received? Added to better understand the patient experience given changes in the way that people are directed towards care following and during the pandemic.
13 GP Practice Thinking about that healthcare professional, how much do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
  • I had a chance to ask about the benefits and risks of the treatment;
  • The health professional checked I understood what I had been told;
  • I felt able to make an informed choice about my treatment and care
Added to better understand the patient journey, collect baseline information to inform the BRAN (Benefits, Risks, Alternatives and do Nothing) policy and to collect information that informs our understanding of the conversations that healthcare professionals are having with patients.
16 COVID Do you know or think that you have had COVID-19? Added to better understand the context of the experiences given that the information will have been collected during the pandemic.
17 COVID Have you fully recovered from COVID-19 and returned to your previous level of health? Added to better understand the context of the experiences given that the information will have been collected during the pandemic and to provide evidence on the experience of those with long-COVID.
18 COVID How long have you experienced any COVID-19 symptoms that have not been explained by something else. Added to better understand the context of the experiences given that the information will have been collected during the pandemic and to provide evidence on the experience of those with long-COVID.
19 COVID Have you received a COVID-19 vaccination? Added to better understand the context of the experiences given that the information will have been collected during the pandemic.
20 COVID What are your reasons for not being vaccinated? Added to better understand the context of the experiences given that the information will have been collected during the pandemic and to provide information on patient attitudes towards vaccinations.
22 Out of Hours For this section you should think about the last time you tried to get treatment in the last 12 months when your GP practice was closed. Whom did you contact first? New question introduced to provide some clarity on the patients journey following the increased emphasis on primary care services other than the GP practice during the pandemic.
23 Out of Hours Thinking back to your consultation above, who did you receive most of your treatment or advice from? New question introduced to provide some clarity on the patients journey following the increased emphasis on primary care services other than the GP practice during the pandemic.
24 Out of Hours How did you consult with the healthcare professional? New question introduced to provide some clarity on the patients journey following the increased emphasis on primary care services other than the GP practice during the pandemic.
37 Caring Responsibilities Have you received any support to help with your caring role? New question to provide context on the respondents caring role.
41 About You Are your day-to-day activities limited because of a health problem or disability which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months? Include problems related to old age. New question on disability to improve the quality of evidence available on equalities characteristic on a comparable basis to other data sources.
Table 2: Questions that were changed in the 2021/22 survey
2019/20 Q. No. 2021/22 Q. No. Topic Question Text Reason
8 7 GP Practice The last time you needed an appointment with your GP practice, what kind of appointment did you get Minor change to response options to reflect increased awareness of Near Me and changes in technology.
9 9 GP Practice The arrangements for getting to speak to a: Minor change to wording to reflect the increased usage of video consultations and fewer face-to-face appointments.
12 12 GP Practice What type of healthcare professional did you receive most of your treatment or advice from? Removed "Community Link Worker" from the list of response options due to a low response in 19/20.
13 13 GP Practice Thinking about that healthcare professional, how much do you agree or disagree with following statements? Statements reordered to better reflect the order of events during a consultation following feedback from cognitive testing of the questionnaire.
19 25 Out of Hours What did you receive treatment or advice from this service for? Minor change to response options following feedback received during cognitive testing of the questionnaire.
23 23 Care In the last 12 months, have you had any help or support with everyday living? Separate response options for "help with personal tasks" and "help with household tasks", and a new response option on alarm services. Changes made at the request of policy colleagues and stakeholder to allow for a better understanding of the respondents circumstances.
30 36 Caring Responsibilities Who do you help or support? Question wording and response options aligned to the Carers Census wording to allow for better comparability between data sources.
36 40 About You Do you have any of the following? New response option for "Full or partial loss of voice or significant difficulty speaking" to support the data and evidence work on Augmentative & Alternative Communication.
39 44 About You Which of the following options best describes your sexual orientation? Question wording updated to align with equalities data collection guidance.
Table 3: Questions that were removed for the 2021/22 survey
2019/20 Q. No. Topic Question Text Reason
4 GP Practice What do you think about the opening hours of your GP practice? Removed to make space for new questions. Little use has been made of this question in previous surveys.
9 GP Practice The arrangements for getting to see a:
  • Community Link Worker
Very low response rate to this question in 2019/20.
13 GP Practice Thinking about that healthcare professional, how much do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
  • The person I saw was appropriate for my treatment / care
  • My treatment / care was well coordinated
Removed to make space for new questions. Little use has been made of this question in previous surveys.
17 Out of Hours Which service did you receive most of your treatment or advice from? Replaced with a new question that better reflects the changes to OOH care that have occurred since the start of the pandemic.
18 Out of Hours How did you end up in the service you ticked above? Replaced with a new question that better reflects the changes to OOH care that have occurred since the start of the pandemic.
25 Caring Responsibilities Have you had a carers assessment, now known as an Adult Carers Support Plan or Young Carers Statement (for carers under 18)? Replaced with a new question that provides more detail on the types of support the respondent receives.
33 About You How is your health in general Removed to make space for new questions. Little use has been made of this question in previous surveys.
35 About You How would you rate your quality of life as a whole? Removed to make space for new questions. Little use has been made of this question in previous surveys.

Contact

Email: patientexperience@gov.scot

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