Scottish Inpatient Experience Survey 2016 Volume 2: Technical Report
Report detailing survey design of the Scottish Inpatient Experience Survey 2016.
This document is part of a collection
Survey Response
Response rate for the survey
The response rate for the survey is the number of completed forms returned as a percentage of the number of people in the sample. In total, 43,901 surveys were sent to people and 17,767 were returned completed, giving an overall response rate of 40 per cent.
Response analysis
The number of responses analysed for each question is lower than the total number of responses received. This is because not all of the questionnaires returned could be included in the calculation of results for every individual question. This was mainly for the following reasons:
- the specific question did not apply to the respondent and so they did not answer it. For example if they were not admitted to the A&E department the respondent therefore did not answer questions about their experience at A&E
- the respondent did not answer the question for another reason (e.g. refused). People were advised that if they did not want to answer a specific question they should leave it blank
- the respondent answered that they did not know or could not remember the answer to a particular question (these responses are typically excluded from results calculations)
- the respondent gave an invalid response to the question, for example they ticked more than one box where only one answer could be accepted
The number of responses analysed also varied between NHS Board and site reporting due to suppressions and exclusions that were applied at the different levels of analysis.
Response rates
The highest response rate for an NHS Board was the Golden Jubilee Foundation ( 69 per cent) and the lowest response rate was for Greater Glasgow and Clyde ( 36 per cent) (Table 5).
Table 5: Response rate by NHS Board
| NHS Board | Total forms sent out | Number of Responses | Response Rate | Expected Response Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ayrshire and Arran | 5,030 | 1,898 | 38% | 46% |
| Borders | 702 | 334 | 48% | 53% |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 1,851 | 796 | 43% | 52% |
| Fife | 1,366 | 495 | 36% | 45% |
| Forth Valley | 1,045 | 377 | 36% | 45% |
| Golden Jubilee Foundation | 845 | 584 | 69% | 75% |
| Grampian | 5,495 | 2,518 | 46% | 50% |
| Greater Glasgow and Clyde | 12,943 | 4,657 | 36% | 46% |
| Highland | 3,680 | 1,582 | 43% | 51% |
| Lanarkshire | 2,566 | 925 | 36% | 42% |
| Lothian | 5,179 | 2,202 | 43% | 48% |
| Orkney | 290 | 160 | 55% | 49% |
| Shetland | 306 | 130 | 42% | 46% |
| Tayside | 2,212 | 944 | 43% | 49% |
| Western Isles | 391 | 165 | 42% | 52% |
| Total | 43,901 | 17,767 | 40% | 48% |
Method of response
Of the 17,767 respondents, the majority of surveys were completed and returned in the post (Table 6).
Table 6: Response rate per method of response
| Completion method | Number of Questionnaires completed | Completed (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Post | 16,367 | 92 |
| Online | 1,367 | 8 |
| Telephone | 32 | 0 |
| Language line | 1 | 0 |
Non response
Undeliverable
A total of 611 ( one per cent) questionnaires were returned to the contractors as undelivered. It is possible that a number of people have moved address during the period after leaving hospital and the survey being distributed.
Returned blank
A total of 1,778 ( four per cent) questionnaires were returned blank. This was explained to respondents as being a way for them to opt out of the survey. Some of these questionnaires were returned blank due to the respondent being too ill to complete it.
Contact
Email: Nicola Kerr, nicola.kerr2@gov.scot
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