iMatter Health & Social Care Staff Experience Survey 2025
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 2025 iMatter survey.
Appendix 7: Response Volumes by Method
|
Emailed Surveys |
Volume issued |
Usable Responses |
Response Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2017 |
141,990 |
96,631 |
68% |
|
2018 |
149,557 |
95,693 |
64% |
|
2019 |
153,989 |
102,099 |
66% |
|
2021 |
171,801 |
102,514 |
60% |
|
2022 |
177,197 |
104,216 |
59% |
|
2023 |
183,935 |
113,247 |
62% |
|
2024 |
189,281 |
114,188 |
60% |
|
2025 |
190,920 |
113,822 |
60% |
To view this table in its original format please see the PDF.
|
Paper Surveys |
Volume issued |
Usable Responses |
Response Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2017 |
30,597 |
11,599 |
38% |
|
2018 |
28,062 |
8,561 |
31% |
|
2019 |
25,464 |
9,413 |
37% |
|
2021 |
18,965 |
3,842 |
20% |
|
2022 |
15,516 |
3,047 |
20% |
|
2023 |
12,702 |
3,060 |
24% |
|
2024 |
11,969 |
2,984 |
25% |
|
2025 |
10,350 |
2,579 |
25% |
To view this table in its original format please see the PDF.
|
SMS Invites |
Volume issued |
Usable Responses |
Response Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2017 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
2018 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
2019 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
2021 |
3,676 |
1,810 |
49% |
|
2022 |
7,059 |
2,987 |
42% |
|
2023 |
5,108 |
2,069 |
41% |
|
2024 |
5,540 |
2,362 |
43% |
|
2025 |
6,127 |
2,772 |
45% |
To view this table in its original format please see the PDF.
Method Effect on Response Rates
In order to ensure that all staff have the opportunity to take part in iMatter, paper questionnaires are distributed to those without access to the online survey either by email or SMS.
All Boards sent email invitations. 16 Boards sent SMS invitations and 14 used paper surveys. Five Boards only sent emails. They were Healthcare Improvement Scotland, NHS Education for Scotland, Public Health Scotland, NHS 24 and NHS Orkney.
In 2025 92% of surveys were issued via email, the same as in 2024. 5% were issued on paper, a reduction of 1 pp from 2024 and 3% were issued via SMS. The share of the responses received is 96% from email, 2% paper and 2% from SMS, reflecting the highest response rate being achieved via the email survey.
|
Health and Social Care 2025 |
Volume issued |
% of Volume Issued |
Usable Response Volume |
% of Responses Received |
Response Rate by Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
190,920 |
92% |
113,822 |
96% |
60% |
|
Paper |
10,350 |
5% |
2,579 |
2% |
25% |
|
SMS |
6,127 |
3% |
2,772 |
2% |
45% |
|
Total |
207,397 |
- |
119,173 |
- |
57% |
To view this table in its original format please see the PDF.
Full details of response rates by method for each Board are included within the iMatter 2025 Data file[20].
Unusable Responses
A prerequisite of iMatter is that the core iMatter questions are answered (staff grouping, raising concerns and demographic questions are optional). If there are any errors on the questionnaire, then it is not processed.
On the online survey unusable responses included:
- 3,048 staff who opened the link, started the survey but did not finish it
- 1,191 staff answered all the mandatory questions, but did not submit their survey
On the paper questionnaire it is not possible to monitor responses as they are being completed, and so it is only when returned questionnaires are processed that incomplete or incorrectly completed responses are identified.
Of the 10,350 paper surveys issued, 2,579 (25%) were input and a total of 337 (3%) were rejected. This is a notable improvement from 2024 when 7% were rejected. The improvement is particularly driven by a reduction in the volume of partial responses. Of the partial responses, 52% did not answer the Overall Experience question.
|
Health and Social Care 2024 |
Volume |
% of paper surveys sent |
|---|---|---|
|
Paper Surveys Sent |
10,350 |
- |
|
Responses Processed |
2,579 |
25% |
|
Responses Rejected |
337 |
3% |
To view this table in its original format please see the PDF.
|
Reasons for Rejection |
Volume |
% of paper surveys sent |
|---|---|---|
|
Partial Response |
217 |
2% |
|
Completion Errors |
45 |
<1% |
|
Duplicate |
16 |
<1% |
|
Past Deadline |
59 |
1% |
To view this table in its original format please see the PDF.
Small Teams
The tables following shows the proportion of teams with 4 or less people in for each Board. In order to receive an EEI report, these teams need to achieve a response rate of 100%.
|
Health & Social Care 2025: Board |
Number of Teams: Total |
Number of Teams: Small Teams |
Number of Teams: % of all Teams |
Small Teams receiving report: No. of Small Teams |
Small Teams receiving report: % of Small Teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
National Boards (Patient-facing) |
|||||
|
NHS 24 |
325 |
146 |
45% |
127 |
87% |
|
NHS Golden Jubilee |
198 |
47 |
24% |
30 |
64% |
|
Scottish Ambulance Service |
407 |
92 |
23% |
61 |
66% |
|
The State Hospital |
65 |
21 |
32% |
16 |
76% |
|
National Boards (Support) |
|||||
|
Healthcare Improvement Scotland |
59 |
11 |
19% |
7 |
64% |
|
NHS Education for Scotland |
214 |
100 |
47% |
84 |
84% |
|
NHS National Services Scotland |
326 |
76 |
23% |
64 |
84% |
|
Public Health Scotland |
82 |
11 |
13% |
9 |
82% |
|
Geographic Boards |
|||||
|
NHS Ayrshire & Arran |
1167 |
221 |
19% |
102 |
46% |
|
NHS Borders |
328 |
68 |
21% |
34 |
50% |
|
NHS Dumfries & Galloway |
294 |
46 |
16% |
26 |
57% |
|
NHS Fife |
952 |
228 |
24% |
141 |
62% |
|
NHS Forth Valley |
602 |
142 |
24% |
50 |
35% |
|
NHS Grampian |
1374 |
243 |
18% |
141 |
58% |
|
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde |
3457 |
641 |
19% |
345 |
54% |
|
NHS Highland |
814 |
142 |
17% |
55 |
39% |
|
NHS Lanarkshire |
1173 |
149 |
13% |
89 |
60% |
|
NHS Lothian |
2460 |
611 |
25% |
324 |
53% |
|
NHS Orkney |
86 |
23 |
27% |
14 |
61% |
|
NHS Shetland |
115 |
27 |
23% |
16 |
59% |
|
NHS Tayside |
1417 |
325 |
23% |
164 |
50% |
|
NHS Western Isles |
73 |
7 |
10% |
4 |
57% |
To view this table in its original format please see the PDF.
Contact
Email: nationalimatterteam@gov.scot