Maternity care survey 2018: technical report

4. Fieldwork

The Scottish Government contracted Quality Health Ltd to administer the survey.  Quality Health Ltd has in-depth experience of health surveys, and has provided support for other care experience surveys in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK. 

Respondents had the option to complete the survey by post, online, via a telephone helpline in a wide range of languages or via text phone. The helpline was also available to handle questions or complaints about the survey.

Mail-outs

The fieldwork began on 23 May 2018 with the mailout of the initial survey packs. A first reminder was sent to those who had not responded to the initial survey pack on 13 June 2018, and a second reminder was sent to those who had still not responded on 11 July 2018. The survey closed on 31 August 2018.

Survey Helpline Calls

During the fieldwork a telephone helpline answered queries from sampled individuals. A total of 8 people called the helpline, this is in line with the number of helpline calls received for previous Maternity Care surveys. 

People who were recently deceased

Women included in the 2018 survey were sampled on 14 May 2018. The sampling, questionnaire printing and mail-out process extended from this date through to the final mailing date of 11 July 2018. This meant that women or babies may have died between the sample date and mail out dates. As with all Care Experience surveys, every possible effort was made to avoid questionnaires being sent to family members of those who have died. 

To minimise the risk of questionnaires being sent to deceased women, or women whose baby had died, NRS cross-checked the death register on the morning of each mailout and notified Quality Health Ltd of any individuals who should be removed from the mailout. This ensured that the most up to date information was used which greatly reduced the possibility of questionnaires being sent to addresses of deceased women or babies. A total of four records included in the initial sample were flagged as deceased and removed prior to mailout.

Any death which occurs in Scotland must be registered within eight days of the date of death. This means that there can be a delay between the actual date of death and the date that it is registered and updated on the NRS database. This delay can mean it is extremely difficult to prevent all questionnaires being sent to addresses where a mother or baby has died. There were no reports of any questionnaires being sent to mothers who had died, or whose baby had died.