Record staff survey responses for CHCP
19 May, 2025
City Health Care Partnership CIC’s (CHCP) annual colleague survey has achieved a record response rate of 78% this year, thanks in part to the innovative use of easy read and accessible options.
Josh Willey, project lead in CHCP’s human resources team, says giving people the option of an easy read version has made a huge difference. “We have colleagues with learning differences, some whose first language isn’t English and others who have difficulties reading. Our target this year was to make the colleague survey accessible to everyone. We wanted as many people as possible to have the chance to tell us about their experience of working at CHCP,” he says. “105 easy read surveys (6% of the total) were completed this year. We are proud to have taken a significant step towards inclusivity and accessibility, valuing the voices of all our colleagues.”
Megan Foot is the accessible information lead and devised the easy read version of the survey. “I’m so delighted by the number of colleagues who have found this useful,” she says. “One person in my team has never been able to give her views because the survey wasn’t accessible to her, but she has done so for the first time this year, which is fantastic. Providing the survey in these formats shows CHCP’s commitment to all its staff.”
Colleen said, "This the first time I’ve ever done it, and I found it easier to understand because of the pictures. I like to tell CHCP how well they are doing, and I love my job."
Every CHCP employee is encouraged to complete the survey, which is independently managed by Hull-based company SMSR Research. Project Manager Lee Atkinson says this innovative approach has been very effective in reaching staff who might otherwise find the standard survey daunting. “We collaborated closely with CHCP’s accessible information team to create a version with symbols and simpler language, and we are delighted with how well it’s worked.” he explained. “We also offered a ‘plain English’ version, which 130 people chose to use. It’s been a great success, and we’ll definitely be looking at using this approach in other surveys to boost both response rates and inclusivity.”
The new versions of the survey were developed on the back of feedback from colleagues who said that they had never been able to complete the survey in the past. Some have said that this year is the first time they’ve taken part. Giles Bridgeman, director of corporate development and people, is delighted with the results of the changes. “We want as many people as possible to tell us what it’s like to work at CHCP,” he explains. “It’s vital that our colleague survey gives as accurate a picture as possible so that we can continue to make our organisation a place where people love to work.”
