iMatter Health & Social Care Staff Experience Survey 2025

My Organisation

To view this table in its original format please see the PDF.

Results are aggregated for each question presented under the heading ‘My Organisation’, where Organisation refers to and includes both the relevant NHS Board and Health & Social Care Partnership(s).

Recommendation of the organisation has increased by 1 pt in 2025. The lowest scores across all components are ‘I feel involved in decisions relating to my organisation’ (55) and are in ‘I feel Board Members responsible for the wider organisation are sufficiently visible’¹³ (56).

To view this table in its original format please see the PDF.

93% of staff agree that they understand how their role contributes to the goals of the organisation Over half (53%) of staff do not agree that they feel sufficiently involved in decisions relating to their organisation and half (51%) do not agree that they feel that board members who are responsible for their organisation are sufficiently visible.

Boards

Full Board data is included in the iMatter 2025 Data file^[13].

While overall there has been little change in Health and Social Care ‘My Organisation’ scores, there are some large movements within individual Boards.

NHS Borders has improved all components with the largest being in:

• ‘I feel that board members who are responsible for my organisation are sufficiently visible’ with an increase of 6 points
• ‘I have confidence and trust in Board members who are responsible for my organisation’ increasing 4 points from 2024 to 2025
• ‘I feel sufficiently involved in decisions relating to my organisation’, ‘I am confident performance is managed well within my organisation’ and ‘I would be happy for a friend or relative to access services within my organisation’ have all increased by 3 points.

Feeback from NHS Borders reflects that their new Chief Executive communication approach includes a weekly update and is more visible to staff.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland has also achieved considerable improvements in all components of My Organisation:

• The largest increase, of 6 pts, is in ‘I have confidence and trust in Board members who are responsible for my organisation, with ‘I feel sufficiently involved in decisions relating to my organisation’ improving by 5 pts
• ‘I would recommend my organisation as a good place to work’ has also increased by 5 pts
• ‘I feel my organisation cares about my health and wellbeing’, ‘I am confident performance is managed well within my organisation’ and ‘I get the help and support I need from other teams and services within the organisation to do my job’ have all improved by 4 pts over 2024.

NHS Education for Scotland has increased their score for visibility of Board Members by 3 pts. They identify four key actions that have driven that improvement:

NHS Education for Scotland Board Feedback

“1. Intranet news story on getting to know the NES Board and the Board Secretary role.

2. Getting to know the Board update videos issued following Board meetings that are designed to give staff an insight into the make-up of the Board, key discussion points from meetings and the role of Non-Executive’s on NES Committees.

3. Board member attendance at webinars across the organisation including Chief Executive updates where their attendance was acknowledged to highlight their involvement.

4. Employee Director highlighting at webinars/meetings that her role is a non-Executive Board member.”

NHS 24 also increased their score for visibility of Board members by 3 pts. Their feedback identifies various actions that have been taken to increase visibility of both Board members and other senior staff:

NHS 24 Board Feedback

“A positive shift in the perception of the board’s presence and engagement within NHS 24. This can be attributed to several factors including:

• Active involvement in MEP and LDP welcome sessions and ‘celebrating success’ final event sessions.
• CEO and Directors attended staff experience sessions to hear staff feedback, answer questions and promote wellbeing initiatives.
• Meet Your Director sessions were roll out across NHS 24.
• ‘Meet the Team’ sections created on the intranet with photos and introductions to senior colleagues along with brief description of the relevant team and their responsibilities.
• Executive team members attended Directorate team meetings.
• Executive team members doing ‘walk rounds’ in centres.
• The Empowerment framework was introduced to clarify roles and responsibilities, fostering trust and engagement with senior leadership.
• Staff Governance development sessions provided an opportunity for staff to showcase their work.
• Opportunity for staff members to observe committee meetings.
• Board members visited centres to meet with staff, hear about their experiences, the challenges they face, and answer questions about the Board.”

The largest declines in scores within My Organisation are in The State Hospital and NHS Grampian.

In The State Hospital ‘I would be happy for a friend or relative to access services within my organisation’ is 4 pts lower than in 2024 and ‘I feel my organisation cares about my health and wellbeing’ is 3 pts lower.

NHS Grampian has a reported decline in all components within My Organisation with ‘I feel my organisation cares about my health and wellbeing’, ‘I have confidence and trust in Board members who are responsible for my organisation’ and ‘I am confident performance is managed well within my organisation’ all dropping by 3 pts from 2024.

Feedback from NHS Grampian notes variations across the organisation, with Aberdeenshire reporting the biggest decline (-7 pts). However, actions are in place to address the decline:

NHS Grampian Board Feedback

“The Interim Chief Officer has been working hard to improve culture with teams and services, and is beginning to see early signs of change which are expected to be reflected in improvements in next year's iMatter score for Aberdeenshire, and for NHS Grampian as a whole.”

A Team Story from NHS 24 highlights ways in which visibility of senior staff is being increased:

NHS 24 Service Delivery Directorate

“Leadership at the operational level is a key strength, with direct line managers viewed as approachable, trustworthy, and caring. While senior leadership visibility is an area for growth, initiatives such as centre visits, walkarounds, and online engagement are underway to enhance board presence. All engagement sessions are now communicated in advance to maximise staff participation.”

Staff Groupings

Local Authority staff are more confident that performance is managed well within their organisation than NHSScotland staff with a difference of 4 pts between the two scores. Local Authority staff also score 3 pts higher than NHSScotland staff for feeling their organisation cares about their health and wellbeing.

To view this table in its original format please see the PDF.

Details of scores for each of the individual Staff Groupings within NHSScotland and Local Authority are included within the iMatter 2025 Data files^[14]. Within NHSScotland staff, Ambulance Services score lowest and Senior Managers highest on most components. Among Local Authority staff scores are quite consistent across Staff Groupings, though Senior Managers, Business Services and Strategic Development tending to score higher than other Staff Groupings.