The Scottish Government has published its 2015/16 Health and Care Experience Survey. The survey asked respondents to feed back their experiences of their GP practices and out of hours care. The survey also asked about experiences of social care services and asked specific questions of those with caring responsibilities.
The survey is significant as it is based on 112,000 responses to a randomised postal questionnaire. People eligible to be sampled for the survey were those who were registered to a Scottish GP practice at 20 October 2015 and were aged 17 or over at that date. 15% of respondents indicated they look after or provide regular help or support to others.
Carers were asked questions in relation to: feeling supported to continue caring, coordination of services to the cared-for person, the extent to which they felt they had a say in services, the balance between caring and other things in their life and the impact of caring on their health and well-being.
Across each of these areas there has been a marginal decline in positive responses with the exception of a say in services. 68% of carers said they had a good balance between caring and other things in their life compared to 70% in 2013. This question is very relevant to the provision of short breaks and replacement care, supports which can help carers have a more balanced life alongside their caring role.
The full survey can be found at: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/05/9045
