Survey Documents
The survey documents for the 2020 NHS Staff Survey are available on this page.
Core Questionnaire and Optional Questions
The core questionnaire, which is used by the Care Quality Commission as part of the ongoing monitoring of registration compliance, is the only obligatory section of the questionnaire. You must use the core questionnaire.
You can find a summary of the changes made to the 2020 core questionnaire from the previous year (2019) here.
Participating organisations are also able to select from three additional question modules and an optional, editable question on values.
Please note: The patient experience module has two versions, Ambulance and Standard - please make sure you use the correct version for your organisation.
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Leadership and Development
Optional - Questions relate to training, ability to become a leader, the vision of the organisation and fulfilling potential.
Patient Experience (Standard)
Optional - Questions look at whether respondents believe patients are treated with respect and dignity, have confidence in the staff treating them, and are included in decisions.
Patient Experience (Ambulance Trusts)
Optional - Questions look at whether respondents believe patients are treated with respect and dignity, have confidence in the staff treating them, and are included in decisions. This version should be used by Ambulance Trusts.
Health and Safety
Optional - Questions relate to respondent's working environment, the safety culture, and the implementation of safety processes.
Values
Optional - The question text can be edited to better identify the organisation's values statement.
Questionnaire Compilation Tool
The questionnaire compilation tool for the 2020 NHS Staff Survey is available here.
Guidance
There are two versions of the 2020 NHS Staff Survey guidance, one for participating organisations and one for contractors.
There is an additional guidance document with advice for organisations that wish to use local questions to assess health and wellbeing initiatives.
There is also a document that summarises the changes made to the 2020 core questionnaire from the previous year (2019).
Communications Documents
Good internal communications strategies are very important for publicising the survey to staff and maximising response rates. Below are posters, leaflets and email tags which organisations can use to publicise the 2020 survey.
Poster - Template
This version of the poster is editable, allowing organisations to add their own logo and text.
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Improving Response Rates & Top Tips for Staff Survey Leads
To help all NHS organisations achieve a good survey response rate we have compiled the following documents:
Survey confidentiality
This document contains an explanatory note around the confidentiality of survey responses and an example letter to staff
Tips for improving response rates from high response rate organisations
This document contains tips for improving response rates from trusts who attained an excellent response rate in the 2015 NHS Staff Survey.
Top tips for running the staff survey
This document contains top tips from trust representatives on the Staff Survey Advisory Group on running the NHS Staff Survey.
Letters and Emails
These are the covering letters and emails that must be used when contacting staff.
Below you can find download links for:
- The pre-approach letter/email
- Seven emails, one initial email and six reminders
- Three letters, one initial letter and two reminders
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