Health and social care - staff experience: report 2021
Independent report by Webropol providing detailed information and analysis of staff experience in health and social care across Scotland during 2021.
Appendix 7: Response Volumes by Method
Online Response Rate
The 2021 online response rate of 60% is 6 pps below the 2019 level.
The volume of online surveys issued in 2021 was 12 pps higher than in 2019. The lower response rate led to the total volume of online responses in 2021 being almost identical to the 2019 volume.
Online Surveys | Volume issued | Usable Response Volume | Response Rate |
---|---|---|---|
2017 | 141,990 | 96,631 | 68% |
2018 | 149,557 | 95,693 | 64% |
2019 | 153,989 | 102,099 | 66% |
2021 | 171,801 | 102,514 | 60% |
Paper Response Rate
The paper response rate has always been lower than the online response rate. However, there is a considerable decline in 2021 with the paper response rate dropping to 20%, having been at 37% in 2019. This decline is far in excess of the drop seen in the online response rate.
Paper Surveys | Volume issued | Usable Response Volume | Response Rate |
---|---|---|---|
2017 | 30,597 | 11,599 | 38% |
2018 | 28,062 | 8,561 | 31% |
2019 | 25,464 | 9,413 | 37% |
2021 | 18,965 | 3,842 | 20% |
In total 17 Boards made use of paper questionnaires, two of which are not shown in the summary below to protect anonymity of the staff. Of note are the large declines in response rates in Boards that have large paper volumes:
- NHS Lothian -21pps
- NHS Grampian -20pps
- NHS Lanarkshire -19pps
Paper Surveys | Volume Issued 2021 | Response Rate 2019 | Response Rate 2021 | Response Rate Movement 2021-2019 (pp) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Health & Social Care | 18,965 | 37% | 20% | -17 |
NHS Ayrshire & Arran | 1,442 | 39% | 27% | -12 |
NHS Borders | 745 | 27% | 18% | -9 |
NHS Dumfries & Galloway | 97 | 37% | 0% | -37 |
NHS Fife | 1,118 | 28% | 17% | -11 |
NHS Forth Valley | 359 | 37% | 17% | -20 |
NHS Golden Jubilee | 188 | 65% | 36% | -29 |
NHS Grampian | 1,581 | 44% | 24% | -20 |
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde | 5,903 | 32% | 16% | -16 |
NHS Highland | 1,034 | 31% | 14% | -17 |
NHS Lanarkshire | 1,737 | 42% | 23% | -19 |
NHS Lothian | 3,541 | 46% | 25% | -21 |
NHS Shetland | 47 | 25% | 28% | +3 |
NHS Tayside | 976 | 25% | 16% | -9 |
NHS Western Isles | 141 | 16% | 18% | +2 |
Scottish Ambulance Service | 51 | 22% | 16% | -6 |
SMS Response Rate
SMS survey invitations were initially successfully piloted in the West Dunbartonshire HSCP (NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde) during iMatter 2019. In the 2020 Everyone Matters Pulse Survey, the SMS method was adopted by 11 Boards with a total of 3,847 SMS invites sent and 905 SMS surveys completed.
In iMatter 2021, 3,676 SMS invites were sent and 1,810 responses received, a response rate of 49%. Of those completing the survey there are 515 staff who previously are/have been known to have received the email survey link and 713 the paper survey.
The slight reduction in the volume of staff invited to the SMS survey is driven primarily by a considerable drop in NHS Lanarkshire, which is countered to some extent by increases in other Boards and through the adoption of SMS by Scottish Ambulance Service.
Board | EMPS 2020 | iMatter 2021 | Difference |
---|---|---|---|
Health & Social Care | 3847 | 3676 | -171 |
NHS Ayrshire & Arran | 12 | 161 | +149 |
NHS Borders | 0 | 57 | +57 |
NHS Dumfries & Galloway | 40 | 301 | +261 |
NHS Fife | 0 | 75 | +75 |
NHS Forth Valley | 278 | 280 | +2 |
NHS Golden Jubilee | 0 | 24 | +24 |
NHS Grampian | 31 | 97 | +66 |
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde | 1,081 | 1,204 | +123 |
NHS Highland | 52 | 200 | +148 |
NHS Lanarkshire | 2,262 | 165 | -2,097 |
NHS Lothian | 60 | 310 | +250 |
NHS Tayside | 28 | 193 | +165 |
Scottish Ambulance Service | 0 | 600 | +600 |
Response rates for Boards adopting SMS follow. The response rate achieved via SMS is good, particularly considering the longer questionnaire in 2021. This suggests that this continues to be a method to consider for the future, potentially as a replacement option to address the challenges around the paper questionnaires.
Unusable Responses
A prerequisite of iMatter is that the core iMatter questions are answered (staff grouping, change experienced and demographic questions are optional). If there are any errors on the questionnaire then it is not processed.
On the online survey, 1,045 staff started the survey but did not submit their response, less than 1% of the volume of staff invited online. This is a considerable improvement from 2019 when 6,630 staff started the survey but did not submit it. This suggests that the design enhancements brought in, to make the 'Submit' button more prominent have been successful.
On the paper questionnaire it is not possible to monitor responses as they are being completed, and so it is only when returned questionnaires are processed that incomplete or incorrectly completed responses are identified.
Of the 18,965 paper surveys issued, 3,842 (20%) were input and a total of 910 (5%) were rejected for the reasons shown here.
Of the partial responses, 79% were only missing a response to one question.
Health and Social Care 2021 | Volume | % of paper surveys sent |
---|---|---|
Paper Surveys Sent | 18,965 | |
Responses Processed | 3,842 | 20% |
Responses Rejected | 910 | 5% |
Reasons for Rejection | ||
Partial Response | 669 | 4% |
Completion Errors | 149 | 1% |
Duplicate | 4 | <1% |
Past Deadline | 88 | <1% |
Sent surveys | Responses | Response rates | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paper | SMS | Total | Paper | SMS | Total | Paper | SMS | Total | ||||
Health & Social Care | 171,801 | 18,965 | 3,676 | 194,442 | 10,2514 | 3,842 | 1,810 | 108,166 | 60% | 20% | 49% | 56% |
NHS Education for Scotland | 958 | 0 | 0 | 958 | 877 | 0 | 0 | 877 | 92% | 0% | 0% | 92% |
Healthcare Improvement Scotland | 533 | 0 | 0 | 533 | 487 | 0 | 0 | 487 | 91% | 0% | 0% | 91% |
Public Health Scotland | 1,163 | 0 | 0 | 1,163 | 999 | 0 | 0 | 999 | 86% | 0% | 0% | 86% |
NHS National Services Scotland | 4,141 | 0 | N/A | 4,150 | 3,055 | 0 | N/A | 3,060 | 74% | 0% | N/A | 74% |
The State Hospital | 638 | 4 | 0 | 642 | 441 | N/A | 0 | 443 | 69% | 50% | 0% | 69% |
NHS Golden Jubilee | 1,801 | 188 | N/A | 2,013 | 1,270 | 68 | 16 | 1,354 | 71% | 36% | 67% | 67% |
NHS Orkney | 877 | N/A | 0 | 878 | 571 | 0 | 0 | 571 | 65% | N/A | 0% | 65% |
NHS Shetland | 1,508 | 47 | 0 | 1,555 | 925 | N/A | 0 | 938 | 61% | 28% | 0% | 60% |
NHS Tayside | 14,209 | 976 | 193 | 15,378 | 8,991 | 160 | 114 | 9,265 | 63% | 16% | 59% | 60% |
Scottish Ambulance Service | 5,426 | 51 | 600 | 6,077 | 3,326 | N/A | 320 | 3,654 | 61% | 16% | 53% | 60% |
NHS Fife | 10,014 | 1,118 | 75 | 11,207 | 6,330 | 193 | 40 | 6,563 | 63% | 17% | 53% | 59% |
NHS Western Isles | 850 | 141 | 0 | 991 | 554 | 25 | 0 | 579 | 65% | 18% | 0% | 58% |
NHS 24 | 1,883 | 0 | 0 | 1,883 | 1,068 | 0 | 0 | 1,068 | 57% | 0% | 0% | 57% |
NHS Grampian | 17,087 | 1,581 | 97 | 18,765 | 10,189 | 380 | 39 | 10,608 | 60% | 24% | 40% | 57% |
NHS Lanarkshire | 12,223 | 1,737 | 165 | 14,125 | 7,458 | 408 | 98 | 7,964 | 61% | 23% | 59% | 56% |
NHS Dumfries & Galloway | 4,204 | 97 | 301 | 4,602 | 2,406 | 0 | 126 | 2,532 | 57% | 0% | 42% | 55% |
NHS Forth Valley | 6,767 | 359 | 280 | 7,406 | 3,863 | 61 | 80 | 4,004 | 57% | 17% | 29% | 54% |
NHS Ayrshire & Arran | 13,052 | 1,442 | 161 | 14,655 | 7,334 | 385 | 118 | 7,837 | 56% | 27% | 73% | 53% |
NHS Lothian | 24,406 | 3,541 | 310 | 28,257 | 13,943 | 902 | 184 | 15,029 | 57% | 25% | 59% | 53% |
NHS Borders | 3,394 | 745 | 57 | 4,196 | 2,018 | 136 | 22 | 2,176 | 59% | 18% | 39% | 52% |
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde | 37,812 | 5,903 | 1,204 | 44,919 | 21,533 | 959 | 543 | 23,035 | 57% | 16% | 45% | 51% |
NHS Highland | 8,855 | 1,034 | 200 | 10,089 | 4,876 | 142 | 105 | 5,123 | 55% | 14% | 53% | 51% |
Contact
Email: Victoria.freeland@gov.scot
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