Health and social care - everyone matters pulse survey: national report 2020

Independent report by Webropol providing detailed information and analysis of staff experience in health and social care during the initial COVID-19 period.


Appendix 3: Sample and Response Rate Data

The table below contains details of response rates by method for each Board. The 'Sent surveys' figures include the 28,100 Health and Social Care Partnership staff invited to take part in the Pulse Survey.

  Sent surveys Responses Response rates
Email Paper SMS Total Email Paper SMS Total Email Paper SMS Total
Health and Social Care 170,190 22,747 3,847 196,784 78,815 3,936 905 83,656 46% 17% 24% 43%
Healthcare Improvement Scotland 559 0 0 559 444 0 0 444 79%     79%
NHS 24 1,902 * * 1,906 * 0 * 1,077 57% 0% 100% 57%
NHS Ayrshire & Arran 11,602 1,791 12 13,405 6,233 384 8 6,625 54% 21% 67% 49%
NHS Borders 3,187 324 0 3,511 1,314 82 0 1,396 41% 25%   40%
NHS Dumfries & Galloway 4,779 235 40 5,054 2,655 57 20 2,732 55% 24% 50% 54%
NHS Education for Scotland 1,370 0 0 1,370 814 0 0 814 59%     59%
NHS Fife 9,696 766 0 10,462 3,891 140 0 4,031 40% 18%   39%
NHS Forth Valley 7,620 388 278 8,286 3,427 65 56 3,548 45% 17% 20% 43%
NHS Golden Jubilee 1,815 111 0 1,926 805 39 0 844 44% 35%   44%
NHS Grampian 16,175 2,816 31 19,022 7,277 * * 7,977 45% 25% 6% 42%
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde 39,473 6,938 1,081 47,492 16,979 660 424 18,063 43% 10% 39% 38%
NHS Highland 9,184 1,539 52 10,775 4,106 181 20 4,307 45% 12% 38% 40%
NHS Lanarkshire 11,478 1,917 2,262 15,657 5,875 610 326 6,811 51% 32% 14% 44%
NHS Lothian 24,552 4,237 60 28,849 11,267 793 37 12,097 46% 19% 62% 42%
NHS National Services Scotland 3,062 6 0 3,068 2,001 0 0 2,001 65% 0%   65%
NHS Orkney 1,230 458 0 1,688 579 100 0 679 47% 22%   40%
NHS Shetland 1,470 55 0 1,525 689 13 0 702 47% 24%   46%
NHS Tayside 13,485 968 28 14,481 5,787 102 9 5,898 43% 11% 32% 41%
NHS Western Isles 857 153 0 1,010 506 6 0 512 59% 4%   51%
Public Health Scotland 1,049 0 0 1,049 772 0 0 772 74%     74%
Scottish Ambulance Service 4,986 30 0 5,016 * * 0 2,003 40% 3%   40%
The State Hospital 659 * * 673 317 * * 323 48% 38% 100% 48%

Note: * denotes suppression of values where numbers are small, to protect confidentiality

Appendix 3: Notes on Response Rate Data

Surveys Sent

There are three Boards that have notable increases in the volume of staff being sent the survey:

  • NHS Orkney, up from 741 in 2019 to 1,688 in 2020 (up 66%), primarily through inclusion of the HSCP for the first time.
  • NHS Education for Scotland up from 815 in 2019, to 1,370 in 2020 (up 68%), from the addition of Doctors and Dentists in Training who were not previously included.
  • NHS Forth Valley up from 6,398 in 2019, to 8,286 in 2020 (up 19%) as a direct result of including the Falkirk HSCP in the survey.

Paper Surveys

12% of Everyone Matters Pulse Surveys were distributed on paper. This is a reduction from 14% of the 2019 iMatter surveys. In volume terms this is a reduction in paper surveys of 11% (from 25,464 in 2019 to 22,747 in 2020).

  • Three Boards distributed no paper surveys (Healthcare Improvement Scotland, NHS Education for Scotland, and Public Health Scotland).
  • NHS Fife more than halved the volume of paper surveys distributed, from 1,641 in 2019, to 766 in 2020.
  • NHS Borders, NHS Dumfries & Galloway, and the Scottish Ambulance Service all reduced the volume of paper surveys distributed by over 30%.
  • In contrast NHS Orkney increased from 5 paper surveys in 2019 to 458 in 2020, an increase from 1% of the total in 2019 to 37% in 2020. As noted above this is primarily through inclusion of the HSCP for the first time.

The charts following highlight the considerable difference in response rates across the 14 Geographic and 2 National Boards using paper surveys in measurable volumes.

Among those issuing a large volume of paper surveys, NHS Golden Jubilee has the highest response rate (35%), and NHS Lanarkshire achieved a 32% response rate for their paper surveys.

NHS Tayside (11%) and NHS Highlands (12%) achieve low response rates to their paper surveys, Though NHS Tayside confirm that response rates are not dissimilar to those achieved in the 2017 Dignity at Work Survey.

NHS 24, The State Hospital and NHS National Services Scotland issued only a very small number of paper surveys and so are not included in this analysis. 

Appendix 3: Paper Response Rates

Response Rate - Paper Surveys - Geographic Boards

Appendix 3: Response Rates in 2020 compared to 2019

Overall Response Rate (all survey methods)

Contact

Email: suzanne.thomas@gov.scot

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