1. NHS Adult Inpatient Survey 2018
Contractor Briefing

2. Agenda Changes from 2017 survey - Changes to covering letters
- Questionnaire changes
- Pilot Study
- Faster postal reminders
National Data Guidance
Key dates for 2018

3. Changes to the covering letters

4. Patients are sent up to three letters…
Mailing 1:
First Letter
Mailing 2:
(only to patients who haven’t responded)
First Reminder
Mailing 3:
(only to patients who haven’t responded):
Second Reminder

5. Changes in the 2018 Inpatient Survey letters include:
Using colours to highlight key words in the letter
Using a more informal font
Removing superfluous and repetitive text on the front page
Using a much more informal and encouraging tone overall
Adding a text box around to the first letter which contains the key information for the patient.

6. Questionnaire Changes

7. Question removed from the questionnaire
One question was removed from the 2017 questionnaire:
This question presented a high correlation with the former Q57 (Did a member of staff explain the purpose of the medicines you were to take at home in a way you could understand?) and patient representatives also commented that if they felt staff explained the purpose of the medicine then they also felt staff explained how to take it.

8. Questions added to the questionnaire
Question about integrated care
Q66. Was the care and support you expected available when you needed it?
1  Yes
2  No
3  I did not expect any further care or support after I was discharged

9. Question about participating in research
Q69. During this hospital stay, did anyone discuss with you whether you would like to take part in a research study?
1  Yes, and I agreed to take part
2  Yes, but I did not want to take part
3  No
4  Don’t know / can’t remember

10. Item modified
The paragraph below has changed its positioning on the questionnaire. It still remains after Q73, in order to remind people the questions need to be answered in regards to the patient, but instead of being placed at the bottom of the column, it has now been placed at the top of the next column – directly above Q74.
The content of the paragraph has not changed.

11. Summary of changes to the questionnaire:
Question number/Item
Question text
Summary of changes
Q59 (IP17 questionnaire)
Were you told how to take your medication in a way you could understand?
Removed
Q66
Was the care and support you expected available when you needed it?
New Question
Q69
During this hospital stay, did anyone discuss with you whether you would like to take part in a research study?
Reminder paragraph
Reminder: All the questions should be answered from the point of view of the person named on the envelope. This includes the following background questions.
Item modified

12. Pilot Study

13. Background
As part of the drive to improve response rates (RR) and possibly response bias, and to explore a move to a mixed mode methodology using online methods within the NPSP, a pilot study will be used to test the effect of a number of interventions in the 2018 NHS Inpatient Survey (IP18).
A pilot study will run alongside the main survey. This would involve up to 10 trusts, who are asked to provide an additional 1014 patients per trust and to provide mobile numbers for them.
The sampling criteria will be the same as for the rest of the sample, with the only difference of having a mobile number.
Trusts will be requested to continue including a consecutive discharges that have a valid mobile number until they reach the number of required pilot patients. Patients in the pilot sample will then be randomly allocated to each intervention by the Survey Coordination Centre.

14. Pilot Interventions Intervention 1: Online survey via postal letter
Method of invitation
Mailing 1 (M1)
Mailing 2 (M2)
Mailing 3 (M3)
Intervention 1:
Online survey via postal letter
Postal letter with link to online questionnaire
Postal reminder with link to online questionnaire
Postal letter (no link) and hard copy of shorter questionnaire
Intervention 2:
Online survey via postal letter and SMS
Postal letter with link to online questionnaire, followed by SMS with link
Postal reminder with link to online questionnaire, followed by SMS with link
Postal letter (no link) and
hard copy of shorter questionnaire
Intervention 3:
Shorter paper questionnaire
Same as main survey, with shorter questionnaire
Same as main survey

15. Faster Postal Reminders

16. Pilot findings from IP17
Running alongside the main survey a pilot was conducted to test the impact of various interventions on response rate. One intervention resulted in a significant increase in response when compared to the control group:
Intervention B: faster reminder (5 days) after initial mailing
Overall 40.8% of those who received the standard survey materials responded to the survey. The early postal reminder gave rise to a response rate of 44%.

17. Faster Postal Reminders for IP18
For IP18, the time between the initial contact and first reminder will be reduced.
The time period between first mailing and first reminder will be five working days.

18. National Data Opt-out Programme

19. NPSP Temporary Exemption

20. Key Dates for IP18 Scored questionnaire published 10th August
Sample construction spreadsheet
23rd July
Submission of hardcopies
3rd August
Weekly monitoring spreadsheet
6th August
Data entry documents
2nd November
Deadline for trusts to inform us which contractor they are using
19th July
Trusts draw sample
1st August to 31st August
Sample Checking
6th August to 5th October
Fieldwork
28th August to 4th January 2019
Weekly monitoring
Every Thursday during fieldwork, starts 30th August
Deadline for final data
11th January 2019

21. Questions?

22. Thank you for your time Copy of the slides:
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