Satisfaction with NHS hits lowest level since records began

[dutchman]

For the first time, less than a quarter of British Social Attitudes survey respondents say they are happy with health services



Satisfaction with the NHS has hit its lowest level since records began.

Fewer than one in four people said they were satisfied with how the NHS runs for the first time in the 41-year history of the British Social Attitudes survey.

Almost three quarters of those who were unhappy said “taking too long to get a GP or hospital appointment” was the main reason they were unhappy.

Of the more than 3,000 people questioned in the 2023 survey, just 24 per cent were satisfied with the health service, a record 52 per cent were dissatisfied, and the remainder were indifferent.

There has been a steep drop in satisfaction since the pandemic, which has more than halved from 54 per cent in 2020, and fell a further five per cent in 2023 compared to 2022.

Satisfaction levels had been relatively stable throughout the previous decade after initially falling from a high of 70 per cent in 2010, coinciding with the change in governing party.

In 2022, satisfaction fell to 29 per cent and the previous lowest level of public satisfaction with the NHS was 34 per cent in 1997, just before Tony Blair’s New Labour won the general election.

Experts said the “depressing” figures left the NHS in “uncharted territory”, with polling suggesting the health service is “the number one issue” that people are raising in the run-up to the general election.

Dan Wellings, a senior fellow at the health charity The King’s Fund, said: “These results are depressing but sadly not surprising. The NHS has seen no respite from the issues that have led to an unprecedented downward spiral in public satisfaction in recent years.

“With the health service increasingly unable to meet the expectations and needs of those who rely on it, public satisfaction with the NHS is now in uncharted territory,” he said.

He added: “At the moment, the NHS is the number one issue that people are flagging for the election, but it is a crowded field.”

Patient groups said the NHS “had plunged from being the pride of Britain”.

“This is such a sad state of affairs it makes me want to cry. The NHS has plunged from being the pride of Britain to an organisation that people moan about nearly as much as the weather,” said Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, an over-60s campaign group.

He added: “We have been banging on about the problems of access to GPs and hospital waiting lists since before the pandemic, but the situation gets worse with every survey.”

The British Social Attitudes research, conducted by The King’s Fund and the Nuffield Trust, shows that supporters of both parties are equally frustrated with the NHS.

The post-pandemic dissatisfaction with services has been driven by issues with GPs and other community services.

The results come as satisfaction levels in both GP and dental services also hit an all-time low, standing at just 34 and 24 per cent respectively.

While more than seven in 10 people said GP and hospital waits were the main problem, the other top concerns included a lack of staff, a lack of funding, and the NHS wasting money.

Last year a record number of people waited at least four weeks for a GP appointment, with one in every 20 of the almost 348 million appointments delivered by GP teams taking place at least 28 days after booking.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said: “After 14 years of Conservative neglect, the NHS has never been in a worse state.

“Patients are waiting 18 months for an operation, more than a month for GP appointments, and NHS dentistry barely exists anymore. The longer the Conservatives are in office, the longer patients wait.”

[rebbonk]

The NHS is nothing like it was originally envisioned. Maybe it should go back to basics and do what it was designed for and stop trying to be all things to all people?

I also think people are annoyed with the NHS over its support for COVID jabs, despite mounting evidence against them. - They allowed themselves to become politicised when they should have remained independent and impartial.

[dutchman]

I also think people are annoyed with the NHS over its support for COVID jabs

It's odd how they always have the staff and time to offer Covid boosters but not GP appointments or routine surgery?

[rebbonk]

I don't know if it's still the case, but originally they were well-paid to deliver the jabs