Public satisfaction with the NHS has fallen to its lowest level ever, with long delays in accessing care the biggest source of growing frustration, a survey has found.
According to the latest UK Social Attitudes survey, just 24% of people in England, Scotland and Wales – the fewest on record – are satisfied with healthcare.
Satisfaction has fallen by 29% since before the Covid-19 outbreak in early 2020, and by a whopping 46% from an all-time high of 70% in 2010, when the Conservatives came to power. It alone fell by five points, from 29% in 2022 to last year’s 24%.
The number of people dissatisfied with the NHS is also at a record high: 52%.
When asked why they were dissatisfied, more respondents said it took too long to get an appointment at the GP or hospital (71%) than any other problem. “Not enough NHS staff” was the second most commonly cited reason (54%), followed by “the government isn’t spending enough on the NHS” (47%). Almost a third (32%) said the NHS was a waste of money.
Dan Wellings, part of the King’s Fund team that analyzed the BSA’s findings with fellow think tank the Nuffield Trust, said the results were “dismal, but (also) should not be surprising after a year of strikes , scandals and persistently long waits for care”.
Satisfaction with GP services and NHS dental care has fallen to its lowest level ever, with just 24% for both services. Slightly more people, but still small numbers, are satisfied with emergency care (31%) and inpatient services (35%). But satisfaction with social care services is even worse: just 13%.
The Patients Association said it was appalled by the findings of the BSA survey, which is seen as the authoritative picture of how the public thinks about the NHS.
Years of mounting pressure on the NHS and a growing inability to meet waiting times for treatments have left relationships with patients seriously strained, the charity said.
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said: “After fourteen years of neglect, the NHS has never been in a worse state. Fewer than one in four people say they get good service, and who can blame them?
“Patients wait 18 months for surgery, more than a month for GP appointments and NHS dentistry barely exists anymore. The Conservatives have taken the NHS to breaking point.”
The BSA survey, conducted by the National Center for Social Research, also found that:
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Eighty-four percent think the NHS has a major or serious funding problem.
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Forty-eight percent want the government to increase taxes and spend more on the NHS.
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Conservative voters are now almost as likely to be unhappy with the NHS as Labor voters are.
However, the results showed that despite the NHS’s struggles, an overwhelming majority of the public remain committed to its founding principles: 91% say it should be free if people need it, while 82% say it is mainly from taxes must be financed. and available to everyone, regardless of income.
“The public doesn’t want another model; they just want the one they need to work,” Wellings said.
The state of the NHS, and the political parties’ plans to improve it, means that this issue will be number one in the general election campaign later this year, as separate recent Ipsos polls showed it was the issue that most voters mentioned. when asked to identify the major issues facing the country, he added.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We are providing the NHS with record funding of almost £165 billion per year by the end of this parliament, an increase of 13% in real terms compared to 2019.
“Overall NHS waiting lists have fallen for the fourth month in a row and we have delivered on our promise to provide an additional 50 million GP appointments months ahead of schedule.”