Summary

The User Experience Survey Programme operates on an annual basis and is used to target areas of particular interest within Adult Social Services. Opinions are sought over a range of service areas to gain an understanding of service users' views rather than measuring quantities of care delivered.

This particular survey is targeted at service users aged 18 and over receiving community equipment or a minor adaptation funded wholly or in part by Social Services, and aims to learn more about whether or not the community equipment or minor adaptation is helping them to live safely and independently in their own home.

This survey was conducted for the first time in 2007-08 and has been repeated in 2009-10. Surveys produce statistics that are estimates of the real figure for the whole population which would only be known if the entire population was surveyed. Therefore estimates from the sample surveys are always surrounded by a confidence interval which assesses the level of uncertainty caused by only surveying a sample of service users. Therefore caution should be taken when comparing data across councils and over time.

Key facts

• 43 per cent of service users responded that they were extremely satisfied with their most recent piece of equipment or minor adaptation, 34 per cent said they were very satisfied, 16 per cent said they were quite satisfied, 3 per cent said they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied and the remaining 3 per cent said they were dissatisfied. These findings are similar to those from the 2007-08 survey.
• 68 per cent of respondents reported that the equipment/minor adaptation had made their quality of life much better, 27 per cent reported it had made it a little better, 4 per cent reported no effect, and the remaining 1 per cent of respondents reported that their quality of life was worse. Again, these findings are similar to those from the 2007-08 survey.
• 37 per cent of respondents said they chose what they wanted (a slight increase from 36 per cent in 2007-08) and 36 per cent said what they wanted played a role in what they got. However, 5 per cent felt that what they wanted didn't really affect what they received and 10 per cent said there wasn't any real choice. The remaining 12 per cent said they didn't need a choice.
• 85 per cent of respondents were very happy with the way they were treated by those who discussed their needs with them, 11 per cent were fairly happy but 2 per cent were unhappy. The remaining 3 per cent did not talk to anyone about their needs and if this group is excluded from the analysis then the percentage who were very happy rises to 87 per cent. This compares to 88 per cent in 2007-08.
• 4 per cent of respondents said the length of time they waited for their equipment or minor adaptation caused them serious problems. A further 15 per cent experienced minor problems but over four-fifths (81 per cent) had no problems.
• Service users were asked which areas of their lives their equipment or minor adaptation helped them with and they could choose more than one area. Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of respondents were using their equipment or minor adaptation to help look after their personal care needs. Over two-fifths (42 per cent) were using it to get around within the home and over a quarter (26 per cent) were using it to move around outside of the home. A third (33 per cent) used their equipment or minor adaptation to help them have more control over their daily life.
• 27 per cent of respondents had no worries about their personal safety with regards to fear of falling or other physical harm (a drop of 1 percentage point compared to the 2007-08 survey), and a further 46 per cent had support to ensure they had no worries which compares to 44 per cent in 2007-08. However, 3 per cent were extremely worried and the remaining 24 per cent had some worries.
• 3 per cent of users felt their home was totally inappropriate for their needs while a further 15 per cent felt it met some of their needs. However, over four-fifths (81 per cent) of respondents felt that their home was designed to meet their needs very well or meet most of their needs which is a small drop from 82 per cent in the 2007-08 survey.
• A quarter (25 per cent) of respondents said they needed less help from others following receipt of their equipment or minor adaptation, and nearly half (49 per cecnt) said the amount of help they needed had not changed. 8 per cent reported they now needed more help than they had before, and the remaining 18 per cent said they did not need help from others.
• 78 per cent of users in the White ethnic group responded they were either extremely or very satisfied with their equipment or minor adaptation, compared to only 59 per cent of Asian or Asian British service users.
• There was a relationship between whether the user chose want they wanted and the impact on their quality of life. In the cases where the service user chose what equipment or minor adaptation they wanted, 79 per cent said it had made their quality of life much better. On the other hand, those who said what they wanted didn't affect what they got, or they hadn't had any real choice, only 35 per cent and 41 per cent respectively indicated that the equipment or minor adaptation had made their quality of life much better.
• There was also a relationship between whether the equipment or minor adaptation had been set up and demonstrated clearly and the impact on the service users' quality of life. Nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of users who felt their equipment or minor adaptation had been set up and demonstrated clearly said it had made their quality of life much better. In comparison, only 41 per cent of those who were not shown how to use their equipment or minor adaptation and thought they should have been said it had made their quality of life much better.
• 65,000 out of a sample of 127,000 equipment or minor adaptation recipients responded to the survey which was a response rate of 52 per cent, compared to 55 per cent of recipients responding to the survey in 2007-08.

http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/social-care/adult-s...