Palliative care strategy: consultation analysis

2. How the Public Consultation was done

The strategy consultation used a survey on Citizen Space (the Scottish Government’s consultation platform) with links to the draft strategy and the four additional evidence papers supporting it. The survey questions used rating scales with space for additional comments. There were questions about the strategy aims and ‘cornerstones’ in section one and questions about each of the eight outcomes and their related actions in section two. These were followed by further open questions to gather views on key aspects of the strategy, asking respondents for their views on:

• community action and support;
• earlier access to palliative care;
• improving experiences of people with different personal characteristics and circumstances; and
• language and terms used in the strategy.

All consultation responses were analysed within the palliative care policy unit using a structured approach based on the survey questions with support from Scottish Government analysts. Some respondents chose to give longer responses by email. These responses were read separately and then integrated with the other consultation responses.