National patient experience survey: Results for patients treated in February 2015
Individual district health board results compared with New Zealand average
Individual DHB survey results are displayed using interactive Tableau charts. If they do not display correctly or you have trouble reading the results, please contact Ying Li. If this is your first time using Tableau, please read the instructions below before proceeding.
Using the interactive charts (below) to read patient experience survey results
- Use the drop-down box on the homepage below to access a list of DHBs.
- Select your DHB, keeping New Zealand as the second option – do not use the drop-down box to compare DHBs.
- Use the tabs along the top to navigate through each domain.
- Return to the homepage to select a different DHB to compare against the New Zealand average.
- Results can be downloaded as a PDF by using the 'download' button on the bottom right of each page.
Key findings
- National results for the four domains remained consistent across all seven survey rounds.
- There was little variation between district health boards (DHBs).
- The response rate is 29 percent in the current round, which is the highest since the survey started.
- Weighting has been undertaken, as before, in line with the methodology and procedure documents.
National results
Nationally, scores for the four domains have remained consistent since quarter 2, 2015 (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: National average scores for the four domains
Among the four domains, “Physical and emotional needs” has been rated higher than others in all seven rounds. It includes the “humanitarian” questions shown in Figure 2, which continuously scored higher than other questions. The three questions in Figure 3 continued to score lower than other questions, indicating potential for improvement.
Figure 2: Highest rating questions of the four domains
Figure 3: Lowest rating questions of the four domains
Figure 4: Scores of four domains by DHB
Response rates
The national response rate increased to 29 percent in February 2016, which is five percentage points higher than the first survey and is the highest since the survey started. This has been driven by an increase in the proportion of patients contacted by email from 13 percent in the first round to 26 percent currently, and also an increase in its response rate from 30 percent to 36 percent. The response rate in surveys distributed via SMS also remained at its highest level of 17 percent. This is more than double the lowest level response rate of eight percent. As smartphones are becoming the nation’s most popular device[1], we expect further increases in responses to surveys distributed via SMS.
Compared with the first survey round, the number of patients invited to participate via email increased from 870 to 1627, and the number of responses from this group increased from 260 to 578. Response rates for surveys distributed via post remained highest among all distribution methods. However, postal surveys have a high processing cost and we encourage DHBs to undertake surveys through email or SMS where possible.
Figure 5: Response rates by survey distribution type
Response rates per DHB varied from 17 percent to 46 percent. Half of all DHBs achieved a 30 percent response rate or above in the current survey round, compared with only three DHBs in the first survey round. There were substantial increases in response rates for Hauora Tairāwhiti and West Coast DHB, but both DHBs still have too few responses for a meaningful result.
Figure 6: Response rate
Representation of respondents
Nationally, respondents were reasonably representative of all ages and gender. However, the low response from people aged 15–24 and 25–44 continued, as did under-representation of people of Māori or Pacific origin.
Figure 7: Representativeness by demographic group
References
- Research New Zealand. 2015. A Report on a Survey of New Zealanders’ Use of Smartphones and other Mobile Communication Devices 2015. URL: http://www.researchnz.com/pdf/Special%20Reports/Research%20New%20Zealand%20Special%20Report%20-%20Use%20of%20Smartphones.pdf
