iMatter Health & Social Care Staff Experience Survey 2024
Independent report by Webropol providing detailed information and analysis of staff experience in health and social care across Scotland. This report contains data from the 2024 iMatter survey.
Response Rates
Introduction
The response rate shows the number of recipients issued with the questionnaire and the number of respondents as an overall percentage.
In total 206,790 questionnaires were issued, and 119,534 usable responses were received. This equates to an overall response rate of 58%.
Board Response Rates
Response rates across individual Boards range between 53% to 90%.
| Board | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Response Rate Movement 2023-2022 (pp) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health and Social Care | 63% | 59% | 62% | 56% | 55% | 59% | 58% | -1 |
| National Boards (Patient-facing) | ||||||||
| NHS Golden Jubilee | 68% | 63% | 67% | 67% | 61% | 65% | 58% | -7 |
| NHS 24 | 67% | 70% | 65% | 57% | 65% | 70% | 76% | +6 |
| Scottish Ambulance Service | 64% | 64% | 59% | 60% | 52% | 56% | 59% | +3 |
| The State Hospital | 78% | 77% | 79% | 69% | 72% | 72% | 72% | 0 |
| National Boards (Support) | ||||||||
| Healthcare Improvement Scotland | 80% | 86% | 90% | 91% | 91% | 92% | 90% | -2 |
| National Services Scotland | 76% | 77% | 82% | 74% | 75% | 78% | 80% | +2 |
| NHS Education for Scotland | 81% | 84% | 87% | 92% | 88% | 88% | 87% | -1 |
| Public Health Scotland | N/A | N/A | N/A | 86% | 75% | 79% | 87% | +8 |
| Geographic Boards (Patient-facing) | ||||||||
| NHS Ayrshire & Arran | 64% | 59% | 60% | 53% | 53% | 58% | 56% | -2 |
| NHS Borders | 61% | 53% | 53% | 52% | 52% | 55% | 57% | +2 |
| NHS Dumfries & Galloway | 63% | 59% | 66% | 55% | 60% | 65% | 62% | -3 |
| NHS Fife | 62% | 53% | 62% | 59% | 60% | 66% | 64% | -2 |
| NHS Forth Valley | 65% | 62% | 68% | 54% | 56% | 61% | 58% | -3 |
| NHS Grampian | 64% | 60% | 62% | 57% | 57% | 62% | 60% | -2 |
| NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde | 58% | 54% | 59% | 51% | 52% | 54% | 53% | -1 |
| NHS Highland | 58% | 51% | 60% | 51% | 47% | 50% | 53% | +3 |
| NHS Lanarkshire | 65% | 62% | 65% | 56% | 55% | 58% | 58% | 0 |
| NHS Lothian | 65% | 63% | 63% | 53% | 54% | 58% | 57% | -1 |
| NHS Orkney | 73% | 83% | 66% | 65% | 58% | 59% | 69% | +10 |
| NHS Shetland | 61% | 56% | 63% | 60% | 55% | 60% | 60% | 0 |
| NHS Tayside | 65% | 58% | 61% | 60% | 58% | 58% | 56% | -2 |
| NHS Western Isles | 52% | 52% | 56% | 58% | 62% | 64% | 62% | -2 |
All Geographic Boards except NHS Orkney response rates have moved by no more than 3pps. The largest increase in response rate is in NHS Orkney, up 10pps from 59% to 69%, making it now the highest response rate across all Geographic Boards. The Board explained that it is primarily through removal of paper responses that have driven the increase:
NHS Orkney iMatter Team
“Over the past three years, NHS Orkney has successfully eliminated the use of paper responses through effective engagement with the organisation. This was achieved by clearly communicating the purpose and benefits of participation in the lead-up to iMatter, working with line managers to ensure time for responses, and providing regular updates through all-staff briefings. This year, having discussed and engaged with our HSCP, we agreed to exclude our HSCP Orkney Island Council employed colleagues, who previously used paper responses, in order to focus on NHS Orkney employees and prioritise continuous improvement in line with our new Corporate Strategy and staff experience programme.”
Among the National Support Boards, Public Health Scotland has achieved an increase of 8pps, from 79% last year to 87% in 2024. This is the highest response rate achieved by Public Health Scotland since creation of the Board in 2020. The Board commented on the positive action taken over the last year to drive this improvement:
Public Health Scotland
“Based on the response rate last year and a commitment to increase this, we strengthened our planning process, clarity on team structures and a comprehensive staff engagement and communications plan to support an increased response.”
Among the Patient-facing Boards, two have seen considerable movement in their response rates this year:
- NHS 24 have improved their response rate by 6pps from 70% in 2023 to 76% in 2024. This is the highest response rate ever achieved by NHS 24.
- In contrast, NHS Golden Jubilee has seen a decline of 7pps from 65% in 2023 to 58% in 2024.
NHS 24
“Actions taken to improve response rates:
Delivery of NHS 24’s Management Essentials Programme
- This initiative included sections on iMatter and emphasised managers' responsibilities in fostering engagement and the importance of appraisals and one to ones.
Tracking Response Rates
- Response rate data was monitored and shared twice weekly with the Director of Workforce, particularly highlighting teams that would not receive a report or had a response rate below 50%.
- This information was cascaded to ensure directors and their PA’s actively engaged staff, encouraged participation, and allowed time for questionnaire completion.
- Direct reminders were sent to managers of teams with low response rates.
- Weekly reminders were issued to PA’s to further encourage questionnaire completion.
Comprehensive Communication Plan
- A robust communication strategy ensured all staff were aware of their responsibilities at each stage. This included:
- Team Talk – NHS 24’s staff news article
- Posts on NHS 24's intranet
- Infographics on digital wallboards in centres
- Automated e-mails via Webropol
- Direct communication from Operational Leads to PA’s and team managers.”
NHS Golden Jubilee provided feedback on the decline in response rate:
NHS Golden Jubilee
“The NHS Golden Jubilee iMatter results for 2024 had a total of 2359 staff members were invited to complete the iMatter questionnaire. This is 255 more than last year. Reflecting organisational expansion and growth the number of recipients increased by around 12%, the number of respondents did not mirror this with only 7 more people completing the survey. Overall, this resulted in a 58% response rate, down slightly on 2023. This may reflect the period of organisational change and expansion we have been experiencing.”
Further details of response rates are included in Appendix 7 and in the iMatter 2024 Data file[5]
A Team Story from Pharmacy Services in the Board Medical Directorate at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, illustrates the importance of iMatter and outlines actions taken to improve staff engagement and to demonstrate how the results are used:
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Pharmacy Services
“Pharmacy Services celebrated their staff awards on Wednesday 20th of March at the Teaching and Learning Centre, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital ( QEUH). While the event was themed around the many successes of our staff, the event also recognised the challenges along the way.
One way Pharmacy Services do this is through the annual iMatter survey. The team has always had a high engagement rate and one they are keen to continue. They took the opportunity to promote iMatter at their staff awards, including highlighting the improvements made locally based on the annual staff feedback. To support the event, the NHSGGC Staff Experience team were on hand to share good practice and give out a pen or two!!
Alongside iMatter, the event also showcased the Peer Support service:
"Delighted to have attended the awards ceremony representing Peer support and as part of the Pharmacy Culture Collaborative Group.
Peer support simply put is to look after oneself and others and this was very much to the fore in our pharmacy 'family' awards ceremony.”
Contact
Email: nationalimatterteam@gov.scot
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