Health & Social Care Staff Experience Survey 2023
Independent report by Webropol providing detailed information and analysis of staff experience in health and social care across Scotland during 2023
Employee Engagement Index (EEI)
Introduction
The Employee Engagement Index (EEI) is calculated based on the number of responses for each point on the scale for component questions (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree) multiplied by its number value (6 to 1). These scores are added together and divided by the overall number of responses to give the score to show level of engagement.
Board EEI Scores
EEI scores for individual Boards range from 85 for NHS Education for Scotland to 67 for the Scottish Ambulance Service, neither having changed from 2022.
Only two Boards have 2023 EEI scores that are lower than in 2022. They are:
- NHS 24 down 2 points to 74 in 2023.
- Healthcare Improvement Scotland down 2 points to 80 in 2023
Both these movements are significant (Further details of significance testing is included in Appendix 6 and in the iMatter 2023 Data file[4].
| EEI Score | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Movement from 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health and Social Care | 75 | NR[5] | 76 | 75 | 76 | 77 | +1 |
| National Boards (Patient-facing) | |||||||
| NHS Golden Jubilee | 78 | 78 | 77 | 72 | 74 | 76 | +2 |
| NHS 24 | 75 | 77 | 78 | 75 | 76 | 74 | -2 |
| Scottish Ambulance Service | 67 | 67 | NR | 65 | 67 | 67 | 0 |
| The State Hospital | 76 | 77 | 77 | 74 | 75 | 75 | 0 |
| National Boards (Support) | |||||||
| Healthcare Improvement Scotland | 80 | 80 | 78 | 81 | 82 | 80 | -2 |
| NHS Education for Scotland | 80 | 81 | 82 | 84 | 85 | 85 | 0 |
| NHS National Services Scotland | 77 | 76 | 76 | 78 | 78 | 78 | 0 |
| Public Health Scotland | 77 | 75 | 76 | +1 | |||
| Geographic Boards | |||||||
| NHS Ayrshire & Arran | 76 | NR | 76 | 75 | 77 | 78 | +1 |
| NHS Borders | 74 | NR | NR | 74 | 75 | 77 | +2 |
| NHS Dumfries & Galloway | 75 | NR | 74 | 72 | 75 | 75 | 0 |
| NHS Fife | 75 | NR | 76 | 75 | 75 | 77 | +2 |
| NHS Forth Valley | 75 | 75 | 75 | 73 | 76 | 76 | 0 |
| NHS Grampian | 76 | 77 | 77 | 76 | 76 | 78 | +2 |
| NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde | NR | NR | NR | 74 | 75 | 76 | +1 |
| NHS Highland | NR | NR | 74 | 73 | 75 | 76 | +1 |
| NHS Lanarkshire | 77 | 78 | 79 | 77 | 78 | 78 | 0 |
| NHS Lothian | 76 | 77 | 77 | 76 | 76 | 77 | +1 |
| NHS Orkney | 75 | 76 | 75 | 70 | 72 | 74 | +2 |
| NHS Shetland | 78 | NR | 78 | 78 | 79 | 79 | 0 |
| NHS Tayside | 74 | NR | 75 | 74 | 76 | 77 | +1 |
| NHS Western Isles | NR | NR | NR | 76 | 74 | 77 | +3 |
NHS 24 has experienced considerable organisational change, an increased workforce volume and a greatly increased response rate to iMatter, all of which may impact the EEI score.
iMatter response rate has increased 13% over the past two years [57% in 2021 to 70% in 2023], which is a result of efforts to strengthen our employee voice. Our headcount has significantly increased over the past twelve months to a record high for NHS 24[6]. As such a decline in EEI and Overall Experience score was expected as staff now have multi-channel opportunities to express the challenges they experience as well as provide us their insights for opportunities for improvement.
Over the past 12 months significant organisational change has been undertaken which has seen our frontline staff undergo two phases of shift and rota reviews to better meet and align with patient call demands.
NHS 24 staff demographic is 68.4% part time and predominantly out of hours. Our lowest scoring questions related to Board visibility, and it is likely our significant increase in new staff as detailed above coupled with the fact our staff work predominantly part time and out of hours, they have not yet had the chance to meet directly with Board members. NHS 24, iMatter Team
Healthcare Improvement Scotland note that organisational changes in two directorates may have impacted scores, though the decline is more widespread across the Board. Some focus group discussions are being planned to try and gain a better understanding for the overall drop in experience within the Board. (Source: iMatter Team, Healthcare Improvement Scotland).
NHS Western Isles increased their EEI score by 3 points from 74 in 2022 to 77 in 2023. This reflects a range of activities undertaken in the Board to improve employee engagement and wellbeing.
“In the 2023 iMatter cycle, NHS Western Isles put significant effort into:
Employee Engagement - Actively engaging around attempts to secure local childcare provisions for the Western Isles. Increased manager support, particularly around iMatter from the Op Lead, HR Drop-in Sessions as well as our Exec team enthusiastically encouraging managers and staff to value the importance of iMatter.
Wellbeing - There was an increased focus on Mental Health provisions including training of Mental Health Contacts, introducing an Employee Assistance Programme as well as increased comms and training to support staff both in work, and at home.” NHS Western Isles, iMatter Team
NHS Education for Scotland (85) and NHS Shetland (79) achieved the same scores as 2022, higher than the scores recorded in previous years. Eight Boards have recorded their highest ever reported[7] EEI Score in 2023
- NHS Ayrshire & Arran (78)
- NHS Grampian (78)
- NHS Borders (77)
- NHS Fife (77)
- NHS Tayside (77)
- NHS Western Isles (77)
- NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (76)
- NHS Highland (76)
EEI Score Distribution across Teams
Across the whole of Health and Social Care the distribution of teams across each of the score bands is as shown following. 79% of teams that received a report score in Strive to Celebrate (67-100), up 4 pps from 2022. Across the whole of Health and Social Care there are only 23 teams that have an EEI score of 33 or less (less than 1% of all teams).
| EEI Score | Number of Teams | Percentage of Teams |
|---|---|---|
| Strive & Celebrate (67-100) | 12,303 | 79% |
| Monitor to Further Improve (51-66) | 1.539 | 10% |
| Improve to Monitor (34-50) | 146 | 1% |
| Focus to Improve (0-33) | 23 | <1% |
| No Report | 1,643 | 10% |
| Total Health and Social Care | 15,654 | 100% |
Note: Teams with 4 or less staff and a response rate of below 100% did not receive a report.
The distribution of scores varies across Boards. Those with higher EEI scores overall have more teams scoring in Strive & Celebrate. The varying levels of No Report across Boards is a reflection of both the response rate achieved and the proportion of small teams within each Board.
| EEI Score Percentage of Teams | Strive & Celebrate (67-100) | Monitor to Further Improve (51-66) | Improve to Monitor (34-50) | Focus to Improve (0-33) | No Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health and Social Care | 79% | 10% | 1% | <1% | 10% |
| National Boards (Patient-facing) | |||||
| NHS Golden Jubilee | 80% | 11% | 1% | 0% | 8% |
| NHS 24 | 68% | 17% | 2% | <1% | 13% |
| Scottish Ambulance Service | 56% | 33% | 3% | 0% | 8% |
| The State Hospital | 73% | 9% | 0% | 0% | 18% |
| National Boards (Support) | |||||
| Healthcare Improvement Scotland | 94% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 6% |
| NHS Education for Scotland | 92% | 2% | 0% | 0% | 6% |
| NHS National Services Scotland | 88% | 8% | <1% | 0% | 4% |
| Public Health Scotland | 89% | 9% | 0% | 0% | 2% |
| Geographic Boards | |||||
| NHS Ayrshire & Arran | 83% | 7% | 1% | <1% | 9% |
| NHS Borders | 80% | 8% | 1% | 0% | 11% |
| NHS Dumfries & Galloway | 78% | 12% | 1% | <1% | 9% |
| NHS Fife | 80% | 9% | 1% | <1% | 10% |
| NHS Forth Valley | 80% | 11% | 2% | <1% | 7% |
| NHS Grampian | 82% | 8% | <1% | <1% | 10% |
| NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde | 80% | 10% | 1% | <1% | 9% |
| NHS Highland | 73% | 11% | 1% | <1% | 15% |
| NHS Lanarkshire | 81% | 9% | <1% | <1% | 10% |
| NHS Lothian | 77% | 8% | 1% | <1% | 14% |
| NHS Orkney | 76% | 15% | 2% | 0% | 7% |
| NHS Shetland | 80% | 9% | 0% | 0% | 11% |
| NHS Tayside | 75% | 11% | 1% | 0% | 13% |
| NHS Western Isles | 85% | 11% | 0% | 0% | 4% |
No Report
1,643 Teams (10%) did not receive a report. These are all teams with less than 5 members, where the required response rate of 100% has not been reached.
Contact
Email: NationaliMatterTeam@gov.scot
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