|r| 0.8 Very strong relationship ≥ 0.6 |r| < 0.8 Strong relationship ≤ 0.4 |r| < 0.6 Moderate relationship ≤ 0.2 |r| < 0.4 Weak relationship ≤ |r| < 0.2 Very weak relationship Rather than using statistical significance to identify important results, correlations were identified as important if the correlation coefficient was greater than 0.4; that is at least a moderate relationship existed between the two variables under investigation. Very weak and weak relationships (r 0.4) were regarded as having no correlation. There were only a limited number of moderate to very strong correlations between the quality of care scores for the upper and lower mortality hospital groups and the outcome and risk adjustment variables selected for the study. A positive correlation indicates that as criterion or overall holistic score increases the variable levels also increase. Thus, for example, a positive correlation for NHS staff survey question 22e (care of patient/service user is top priority) demonstrates an increase in COPD or heart failure criterion score as there is an increase in the mean score for staff who agree that care of patient/service user is top priority in the hospital. An example of a negative correlation would be an increase in COPD or heart failure score which correlates with a decrease in the number of incidents reported to the National Patient Safety Agency per 100 bed days (increased reporting is thought to indicate a positive safety culture[53]). Tables 9 - 12 present the moderate to very strong correlations only. The results of all of the holistic data correlations, including those without statistically significant results, are presented in Appendices 7 to 10. Pearson correlation coefficients are used unless otherwise indicated in the table. Each table is accompanied by scatter plots fitted with regression lines to demonstrate the strength of the correlation. COPD mean holistic overall score (1 unsatisfactory to 6 excellent) Table 9 shows that there were only two moderate negative correlations. Thus as the COPD scale score increased (an indication of better quality of care), the frequency decreased at which NHS staff said they were encouraged to report errors (Figure 3), and also when staff said that care of the patient/service user was a high priority (Figure 4). These correlations are in an unexpected direction since better quality of
|r| ≥ 0.8 Very strong relationship 0.6 ≤ |r| < 0.8 Strong relationship 0.4 ≤ |r| < 0.6 Moderate relationship 0.2 ≤ |r| < 0.4 Weak relationship |r| < 0.2 Very weak relationship Rather than using statistical significance to identify important results, correlations were identified as important if the correlation coefficient was greater than 0.4; that is at least a moderate relationship existed between the two variables under investigation. Very weak and weak relationships (r 0.4) were regarded as having no correlation. There were only a limited number of moderate to very strong correlations between the quality of care scores for the upper and lower mortality hospital groups and the outcome and risk adjustment variables selected for the study. A positive correlation indicates that as criterion or overall holistic score increases the variable levels also increase. Thus, for example, a positive correlation for NHS staff survey question 22e (care of patient/service user is top priority) demonstrates an increase in COPD or heart failure criterion score as there is an increase in the mean score for staff who agree that care of patient/service user is top priority in the hospital. An example of a negative correlation would be an increase in COPD or heart failure score which correlates with a decrease in the number of incidents reported to the National Patient Safety Agency per 100 bed days (increased reporting is thought to indicate a positive safety culture[53]). Tables 9 - 12 present the moderate to very strong correlations only. The results of all of the holistic data correlations, including those without statistically significant results, are presented in Appendices 7 to 10. Pearson correlation coefficients are used unless otherwise indicated in the table. Each table is accompanied by scatter plots fitted with regression lines to demonstrate the strength of the correlation. COPD mean holistic overall score (1 unsatisfactory to 6 excellent) Table 9 shows that there were only two moderate negative correlations. Thus as the COPD scale score increased (an indication of better quality of care), the frequency decreased at which NHS staff said they were encouraged to report errors (Figure 3), and also when staff said that care of the patient/service user was a high priority (Figure 4). These correlations are in an unexpected direction since better quality of