Public satisfaction with the NHS at its lowest
ever level, poll shows
Only 24% of people in England, Scotland and Wales
content with heath service, with long waits to be seen the commonest complaint
Denis
Campbell Health policy editor
Wed 27 Mar
2024 00.00 GMT
Public
satisfaction with the NHS has fallen to its lowest ever level, with long delays
to access care the biggest source of deepening frustration, a study has shown.
Just 24% of
people across England, Scotland and Wales – the fewest on record – are
satisfied with the health service, according to the latest British Social
Attitudes research.
Satisfaction
has plummeted by 29% since before Covid-19 emerged in early 2020 and by an
enormous 46% from the highest-ever 70% recorded in 2010, when the Conservatives
took power. It fell five points alone from 29% in 2022 to the 24% seen last
year.
The number
of people who are dissatisfied with the NHS is also at an all-time high – 52%.
Asked why
they were dissatisfied, more respondents said that it took too long to get a GP
or hospital appointment (71%) than mentioned any other issue. “Not enough NHS
staff” was the second most-cited reason (54%), followed by “the government
doesn’t spend enough on the NHS” (47%). Almost a third (32%) cited the NHS
wasting money.
Dan
Wellings, part of the team at the King’s Fund, which alongside fellow thinktank
the Nuffield Trust analysed the BSA findings, said the results were “bleak but
[also] should not be surprising after a year of strikes, scandals and sustained
long waits for care”.
Satisfaction
with GP services and NHS dental care has fallen to the lowest-ever level – just
24% for both services. Slightly more people, but still small numbers, are
satisfied with A&E (31%) and inpatient services (35%). But satisfaction
with social care services is even worse, at a mere 13%.
The
Patients Association said it was dismayed by the BSA survey findings, which are
seen as the authoritative picture of how the public is feeling about the NHS.
Years of
mounting pressures on the NHS, and its increasing inability to meet treatment
waiting times, have left its relationship with patients severely strained, the
charity added.
Wes
Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said: “After 14 years of neglect, the
NHS has never been in a worse state. Fewer than one in every four people say
they are getting a good service, and who can blame them?
“Patients
are waiting 18 months for an operation, more than a month for GP appointments
and NHS dentistry barely exists any more. The Conservatives have taken the NHS
to breaking point.”
The BSA
survey, which was undertaken by the National Centre for Social Research, also
found that:
However,
the results showed that, despite the NHS’s struggles, an overwhelming majority
of the public remains committed to its founding principles – 91% believe it
should be free of charge when people need it while 82% said that it should be
funded primarily from taxation and available to everyone, regardless of income.
“The public
do not want a different model; they just want the one they have to work,” said
Wellings.
The state
of the NHS, and the political parties’ plans to improve it, means it is set to
be the number one issue in the general election campaign later this year, as
separate recent polling by Ipsos found that it was the subject most voters
mentioned when asked to identify the key issues facing the country, he added.
A
Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are providing the
NHS with record funding of nearly £165bn a year by the end of this parliament,
an increase of 13% in real terms compared to 2019.
“Overall
NHS waiting lists have decreased for the fourth month in a row and we’ve
delivered on our commitment to provide an extra 50m GP appointments months
ahead of schedule.”
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