Home Care Experience Survey 2018

The Department of Health (DoH) today published the ‘Home Care Experience Survey 2018’ report.

The DoH, working in conjunction with Health & Social Care Trusts, have carried out the Home Care Experience Survey 2018, nine years on from the previous Home Care Experience Survey carried out in 2009.

The aim is to gain a greater understanding of the aspects of care that are of most importance to service users, to act on patients’ feedback, and to improve the quality of health and social care.

KEY FINDINGS
Results from the Home Care Experience Survey 2018, based on the 8,887 responses received, show that:

• More than nine in ten (94%) respondents rated the home care service they received as either ‘very good’ (59%) or ‘good’ (35%), compared with 86% in 2009.
• Of those that responded, 85% reported that they were happy with the times of all their home care visits.
• When asked if the hours they were assessed as needing were enough, 86% of respondents answered ‘yes’, compared with 72% in 2009.
• Just over a fifth (21%) of respondents said they always see the same care worker(s) and a further 74% said they see the same care worker(s) most of the time.
• Almost all respondents (97%) who had been provided with and read their care support plan said that they were receiving all the home care services that it specified.
• One in five (19%) recipients reported that they had been in receipt of a home care package for less than a year, while 11% have been in receipt of care for 10 years or more.
• Almost all service (96%) users indicated that they (or a friend or relative) were involved in decisions about the services they receive, when their home care was being planned.
• More than nine in ten (93%) recipients indicated that someone from the Trust had explained to them what their care worker(s) were supposed to do for them.
• More than half (53%) of home care recipients live alone.
• More than half (54%) of respondents indicated that they are not able to prepare food. There were also high proportions reporting that they were unable to get up and down stairs/steps (48%), or to wash themselves (30%).
• When asked about how their overall general health had been in the last 12 months, over two-fifths (44%) of respondents said ‘not good’, with just over one in ten (12%) saying their health had been good.
• Nine in ten respondents considered themselves to have a disability.
• The vast majority of respondents (99%) felt their care worker(s) were competent.
• Four-fifths (81%) of respondents indicated that they feel more independent as a result of the help they get from their care worker(s).
• The majority of respondents (95%) said they trusted their care worker(s).
• Almost all respondents (98%) said they valued the home care service they get, with similar responses across all age groups.

Notes to editors: 

1. This publication presents the findings from the 2018 Home Care Experience Survey, a repeat of the first home care survey which was carried out in 2009. This report presents high level results and it is anticipated that it will be followed by a secondary publication which will include more in-depth analysis.

2. The Home Care Experience Survey was conducted as a postal survey where a questionnaire was posted to all persons identified as being in receipt of home care in Northern Ireland during the last week of November 2018. With 23,187 questionnaires issued and 8,887 returned, the response rate for the survey was 38%.

3. The publication presents service users’ overall satisfaction levels with the care they received, in addition to their views on different aspects of their care including how the service was delivered, the level and quality of care they expect or need, whether or not they were involved in the planning of their care, and what help they received.

4. This publication is available online.

5. Additional information is available from:
Information Analysis Directorate
Department of Health
Annex 2
Castle Buildings
Stormont
Belfast BT4 3SQ
Telephone: 028 9052 2501

E-mail: statistics@health-ni.gov.uk

6. For media enquiries please contact the DoH Press Office 028 9052 0575 or email pressoffice@health-ni.gov.uk. Out-of-hours please contact the Duty Press Officer on 028 9037 8110.

7. Follow us on twitter @healthdpt

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