Health and Care Experience Survey 2025 to 2026: Technical Report
This report contains information about the methodology and background of the 2025 to 2026 Health and Care Experience (HACE) Survey.It is intended primarily for more technical users who wish to understand the how the survey was designed, delivered and analysed.
Survey Design
Survey Development
The survey has been carried out once every two years since 2009-10.
For the 2025 to 2026 round of the survey, the questionnaire was reviewed to ensure continued relevance of survey questions to policy objectives, to reflect changes in the way that health and care services are provided, and to incorporate feedback from the 2023 to 2024 survey.
The survey questionnaire and invite letters were cognitively tested with patient representatives recruited through Health Improvement Scotland, to assess their comprehension and interpretation of the survey question. The feedback from these interviews was used to inform changes to the questionnaire. Details of the changes to the questionnaire can be found in Annex A.
The survey pack, comprising an invite letter, survey questionnaire, information sheet and language sheet, were reviewed and updated based on feedback received during the previous survey, the patient representatives involved in testing the survey and from other stakeholders interested in the survey outputs.
The privacy notice was updated and a summary of the privacy notice was produced which provides the most important information at a glance using simpler language.
Survey Materials
The initial survey pack included a letter and an information leaflet in a range of languages. Respondents were asked to complete the survey online, with alternative formats available. A helpline was also available to handle questions or complaints about the survey, to allow people to complete the survey over the phone, and to allow people to acccess a language line so that they could complete the survey in another language.
A reminder pack was sent to people who had not responded to this initial letter after a couple of weeks. This pack included a reminder letter, the information leaflet, a paper copy of the questionnaire and a freepost return envelope.
Materials relating to the 2025 to 2026 Health and Care Experience, including the survey pack and questionnaire, are available online.