Public satisfaction with the NHS has fallen to its lowest level on record, a long-term opinion poll has revealed.
Only 24% said they would be satisfied with health services in 2023, with poor access to a GP and long waiting times for hospital treatment being the main reasons for dissatisfaction.
The British Social Attitudes Poll, which surveyed more than 3,000 people in England, Scotland and Wales, is seen as a reliable barometer of people’s views on society. NHS.
Satisfaction levels dropped 5 percentage points from the previous year to the lowest level since records began in 1983.
Satisfaction ratings for every service, from A&E to dental, are at or near all-time lows. Results were worse in social care, with only 13% happy.
Satisfaction with dental and A&E waiting times also hit record lows. PA file picture
When asked what the NHS’s most important priority should be, 52% said making it easier to get GP appointments and 51% said increasing staff numbers.
This was closely followed by reducing waiting times in A&E and planned surgeries – with 47% and 45% opting for this respectively.
Crucially, however, support for the fundamental principles behind the NHS – free at point of use, available to everyone and funded primarily through taxation – remains unchanged.
A report analyzing opinion polls said this showed the public did not want the NHS to change, they just wanted the existing model to work.
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PA file picture
‘Continued state of crisis’
Satisfaction with the NHS peaked 14 years ago in 2010, when 70% of people were satisfied with health services. But since 2020, this level has fallen by 29 percentage points.
“A decade of austerity funding and chronic workforce shortages, followed by a global pandemic, have left the NHS in an ongoing state of crisis,” the report said.
When it came to funding, a whopping 84% of respondents said they believed there were serious problems with the NHS, with 48% voting that ministers should increase taxes and increase spending on health services.
Those with the highest monthly incomes were more likely to choose “increase taxes and spend more on the NHS” rather than keep taxes the same or reduce them.
Dan Wellings, a senior fellow at the King’s Fund, said political leaders should “note” how much satisfaction levels have fallen ahead of the upcoming election. The King’s Fund sponsored the health and care issues in the poll.
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Professor Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, added that any party seeking to win Downing Street within a year “must show a clear intention” to invest in the nursing sector to improve pay conditions and stabilize the workforce.
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said the department was “fully committed” to building a “faster, simpler and fairer NHS” and was making “good progress” on this. Reducing waiting lists in England.
They said: “By the end of this parliament we will be providing a record-breaking amount of almost £165 billion a year to the NHS, a real increase of 13% compared to 2019.”
“The overall NHS waiting list has been reduced for the fourth month in a row and we are delivering on our commitment to deliver an extra 50 million GP appointments months ahead of schedule.”
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