Long term conditions framework: consultation analysis

2. Consultation methodology and analysis

Introduction

Section 2 provides details on the consultation methodology and analysis, and comprises sub-sections on:

• the public consultation
• focus groups
• analysis
• consultation challenges and limitations

Please refer to Appendix A for more information on data management and cleaning and analysis.

Public consultation

A total of 371 validated responses have been included in the final analysis. The Respondent Information Form (RIF) captured information about individual and organisation respondents. Table 2.1 shows that: the majority of responses (60%) were from individuals; and two-fifths of responses (40%) were from organisations.

A review of the consultation responses from individual respondents shows that this included a good mix of responses from:

• people with long term condition(s) or who have a family member with a long term condition(s)
• people who work in or who previously worked in the health and social care sector

Base = 371

EKOS, in discussion and agreement with the Scottish Government Long Term Conditions Strategy Unit, categorised organisation respondents under four broad categories, and Table 2.2, below, shows the number of each type of organisation respondent. It is recognised that there are instances in which third sector organisations fulfil a dual function of both representing member/stakeholder views and directly providing support/healthcare services. A ‘best-fit’ approach has been adopted to categorisation.

A diverse range of organisations responded to the consultation – more than two-fifths (42%) of responses were from third sector organisations. A review of organisation responses showed that many engaged with their members and/or with people with long term conditions to help inform their consultation response.

Base = 147

Organisation sub-categories have been defined as follows:

• third sector – covering organisations such as charities, community groups, social enterprises, and voluntary sector organisations that offer support and services for specific conditions and/or to specific population groups
• representative organisation/group for health and social care staff – defined as organisations/groups representing a specific group of health or social care staff, for example membership bodies and professional associations
• service provider – encompassing organisations that provide health and social care services, including but not limited to NHS boards and Health and Social Partnerships (HSCPs)
• other – organisations which could not be easily categorised into one of the above categories, such as academia and private sector organisations

These categories have been used to highlight common and differing views of organisation respondents (where appropriate) in the remainder of this consultation analysis report.

Focus groups

The Scottish Government organised and delivered six engagement events to supplement the main public consultation. The events with seldom heard groups were undertaken to reach those who may not traditionally respond to public consultations to ensure the consultation captured a diverse range of views. The engagement events held included:

• New Scots Women’s Group (Stirling) event which was held on 20 June 2025 and involved women from refugee backgrounds (Sudanese and Afghan participants)
• Sikorski Polish Club (Glasgow) engagement event was held on 22 June 2025 and involved members of the Older People’s Group
• an online engagement event at The Scottish Assembly was held on 27 June 2025 and involved around 30 adults with a learning disability from all over Scotland, alongside carers and staff from The Scottish Assembly
• three in-person events with the Chinese and Gypsy/Traveller communities (July 2025) and a written submission from the Arabic-speaking community

A summary overview of the main themes that emerged from the focus groups can be found in Appendix B. Themes chimed with the main public consultation.

Analysis

There were limited closed-ended questions asked in the consultation. For open-ended questions, the analysis aims to convey both the strength and frequency of the themes raised. The qualitative analysis identifies the key themes across responses to each question. This means that:

• most sections in the report contain numbered themes (for example, Theme 1, Theme 2, Theme 3) – these have been set out in order of relative importance with Theme 1 noted by the greatest number of respondents
• themes/points raised have been quantified in some way to articulate the strength of opinion – for example, we use the terms ‘a small number’ (10% or less of respondents), ‘some’ (11% to 25% of respondents), ‘many’ (26% to 50% of respondents), ‘the majority’ (51% to 74% of respondents), and ‘the vast majority’ (75% or more of respondents)

This consultation analysis report includes quotes from respondents who gave permission for their response to be made public to add richness to the analysis. This does not indicate that these comments will be acted upon or given greater weight than others.

Consultation challenges and limitations

Similar to other public consultations, the main limitation of the consultation process is that respondents are self-selecting, and the responses may not be representative of the population as a whole. That being said, it is clear from a review of the responses that they have been submitted by people who manage long term conditions, as well as family members, clinicians, and organisations that support them.