NHS at 75: 90% of people don’t think the service will improve with almost half saying it will get worse

Published

2 years ago

July 5, 2023

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Almost half of people in Britain (47%) think that NHS care will get worse in the coming years, according to a new international poll by Ipsos for Sky News.

Just one in ten of those surveyed in the UK said they expect the quality of their healthcare to improve (10%), compared to 15% of Swedes and 22% of Spanish people.

The new figures suggest the public have little faith in the government’s ability to resolve the crisis facing the NHS on its 75th birthday.

A record 7.4 million people are currently waiting for elective treatment in England, including 371,000 who have been waiting more than a year.

A chronic shortage of beds, exacerbated by a crisis in social care, has left the NHS struggling to clear waiting lists and attend to urgent cases.

The issue has fed into a crisis of burnout among staff, with Sky News analysis finding that a surge in resignations relating to work-life balance lost the health service 10,000 staff last year.

The new polling shows that the public are feeling the impact of the crisis, with five out of every six UK respondents (83%) describing the health service as “overstretched” – more than in any other country surveyed.

As a result, satisfaction in the NHS has plummeted since the pandemic.

The share of people describing the quality of healthcare they have access to as “good” or “very good” fell from 74% in 2020 to just 48% this year, while the share describing their healthcare as “poor” or “very poor” has more than doubled to 22%.

As recently as 2018, the British public were more satisfied with their healthcare than people in any of the 16 countries polled. This year the UK came in sixth place, behind Sweden, Australia and the US.

“Brits have long been more worried than those in other countries about the future of their national healthcare service,” says Anna Quigley, research director at Ipsos.

“What has changed more recently is their view of the current standard of service provision. Historically, Brits were more positive than other countries about the care they were currently receiving, and this is where we are really seeing things change.

“From other data we collect, for example, on experiences of GP practices, we have seen that this is mainly linked to views around access.”

The public are losing trust in the NHS

Doctors have warned that the UK’s primary care system is close to collapse, with Sky News analysis finding that GPs’ patient workloads have risen by a fifth since 2019.

A record 3,497 English GPs quit general practice in the year to March, including one in every eight newly-qualified family doctors.

The result has been lengthy waiting lists, with nearly one in five people (18%) forced to wait more than two weeks for an appointment in April – up from 11% in 2021.

Waiting times for elective care have also surged, including for those with urgent cancer referrals. Last year, almost 600,000 people were forced to wait longer than the recommended two weeks to see a cancer specialist – a thirteen-fold increase since 2010.

The survey results show that 76% of Britons think waiting times are “too long” and more than half say it’s not easy to get an appointment (52%) – in both cases, the third-highest share of any country polled.

Emergency care has also come under unprecedented strain, with A&E departments forced to “ration” care as a result of chronic bed shortages.

In May, 113,000 people spent more than 12 hours waiting in A&E, with 31,000 waiting more than 12 hours even after being told they would be admitted.

Analysis in February by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine estimated that 23,000 patients died last year due to waits over 12 hours in A&E departments.

The crisis has undermined Britons’ confidence in the ability of the NHS to offer high-quality care. Less than half of those surveyed by Ipsos (46%) said they trust the health service to provide them with the best treatment, down from around two-thirds in previous years.

That’s the sharpest fall in trust of any country surveyed.

Waiting lists have started falling in other countries

During the pandemic, health services around the world sought to free up beds and staff by delaying elective procedures. The result was an enormous backlog of care, from cataract surgeries to hip replacements, that they are now battling to bring down to acceptable levels.

Yet something different has been happening in England. The elective waiting list never went through a period of levelling off, as in Sweden, or began falling back to pre-pandemic levels, as in Ireland. Instead, it has risen relentlessly.

The result has been a continuous increase in waiting times since the pandemic began, long after waits for treatment began falling in other countries.

Tim Gardner, a senior policy fellow at the Health Foundation think tank, says that the international survey results “really aren’t surprising”.

“We went into the pandemic with some of the lowest numbers of doctors, nurses, hospital beds and key bits of diagnostic equipment of any country in Europe, so it’s not a huge surprise that our health service is struggling more than most to recover from the pandemic.

“If we had kept pace with the per person funding in Germany, we would currently be spending around £39bn a year more on our health system.”

The NHS is still core to British identity

Recent polling by Ipsos for the Health Foundation found that 80% of Britons think the NHS needs more funding, up from 72% a year ago.

Two in five people said that underfunding (40%) and staff shortages (38%) were major causes behind the NHS crisis, with more than a third (35%) also pointing to “poor government policy” as a key factor.

By contrast, just 13% blame increased immigration, while 8% point to the recent strikes as a reason for the health service’s poor performance.

“The public are clearly pretty dissatisfied with the standards of the service they’re receiving at the moment,” says Gardner.

“But we also see that they’re really concerned about the pressures and workload of NHS staff. So, they’re not necessarily blaming the health service – support for the NHS’s founding principles is really rock-solid.”

More than half of respondents (54%) said that the NHS makes them “proud to be British”, while 72% agreed that the NHS is “crucial” to British society.

When asked what specifically makes them proud of the NHS, more than half (55%) pointed to the fact that it is free at the point of use or funded by taxation.

However, just one in four respondents (25%) said they expect all NHS services that are currently free at the point of use to still be free in ten years’ time.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The NHS will always be free at the point of use and never be for sale. Cutting waiting times is one of the government’s top five priorities and we are making progress on our plans to recover and improve services, backed by record funding.

“The NHS has already reduced the number of patients waiting more than 18 months by over 90% since the September 2021 peak and virtually eliminated two-year waits for treatment, despite more people coming forward for treatment.

“The NHS has published the first ever Long Term Workforce Plan, backed by over £2.4 billion government funding to deliver the biggest training expansion in NHS history, with hundreds of thousands more staff over the next 15 years.”

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The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

UK

MasterChef presenter John Torode sacked

Published

2 hours ago

July 15, 2025

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MasterChef presenter John Torode will no longer work on the show after an allegation he used an “extremely offensive racist term” was upheld, the BBC has said.

His co-host Gregg Wallace was also sacked last week after claims of inappropriate behaviour.

On Monday, Torode said an allegation he used racist language was upheld in a report into the behaviour of Wallace. The report found more than half of 83 allegations against Wallace were substantiated.

Torode, 59, insisted he had “absolutely no recollection” of the alleged incident involving him and he “did not believe that it happened,” adding “racial language is wholly unacceptable in any environment”.

In a statement on Tuesday, a BBC spokesperson said the allegation “involves an extremely offensive racist term being used in the workplace”.

The claim was “investigated and substantiated by the independent investigation led by the law firm Lewis Silkin”, they added.

“The BBC takes this upheld finding extremely seriously,” the spokesperson said.

“We will not tolerate racist language of any kind… we told Banijay UK, the makers of MasterChef, that action must be taken.

“John Torode’s contract on MasterChef will not be renewed.”

Australian-born Torode started presenting MasterChef alongside Wallace, 60, in 2005.

A statement from Banijay UK said it “takes this matter incredibly seriously” and Lewis Silkin “substantiated an accusation of highly offensive racist language against John Torode which occurred in 2018”.

“This matter has been formally discussed with John Torode by Banijay UK, and whilst we note that John says he does not recall the incident, Lewis Silkin have upheld the very serious complaint,” the TV production company added.

“Banijay UK and the BBC are agreed that we will not renew his contract on MasterChef.”

Earlier, as the BBC released its annual report, its director-general Tim Davie addressed MasterChef’s future, saying it can survive as it is “much bigger than individuals”.

Speaking to BBC News after Torode was sacked, Mr Davie said a decision is yet to be taken over whether an unseen MasterChef series – filmed with both Wallace and Torode last year – will be aired.

“It’s a difficult one because… those amateur chefs gave a lot to take part – it means a lot, it can be an enormous break if you come through the show,” he added.

“I want to just reflect on that with the team and make a decision, and we’ll communicate that in due course.”

Mr Davie refused to say what the “seriously racist term” Torode was alleged to have used but said: “I certainly think we’ve drawn a line in the sand.”

In 2022, Torode was made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, for services to food and charity.

UK

David Fuller: Offences committed by hospital worker who sexually abused dozens of corpses ‘could happen again’

Published

8 hours ago

July 15, 2025

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David Fuller: Offences committed by hospital worker who sexually abused dozens of corpses 'could happen again'

An inquiry into the case of a hospital worker who sexually abused dozens of corpses has concluded that “offences such as those committed by David Fuller could happen again”.

It found that “current arrangements in England for the regulation and oversight of the care of people after death are partial, ineffective and, in significant areas, completely lacking”.

The first phase of the inquiry found Fuller, 70, was able to offend for 15 years in mortuaries without being suspected or caught due to “serious failings” at the hospitals where he worked.

Phase 2 of the inquiry has examined the broader national picture and considered if procedures and practices in other hospital and non-hospital settings, where deceased people are kept, safeguard their security and dignity.

What were Fuller’s crimes?

Fuller was given a whole-life prison term in December 2021 for the murders of Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in 1987.

During his time as a maintenance worker, he also abused the corpses of at least 101 women and girls at Kent and Sussex Hospital and the Tunbridge Wells Hospital before his arrest in December 2020.

His victims ranged in age from nine to 100.

Phase 1 of the inquiry found he entered one mortuary 444 times in the space of one year “unnoticed and unchecked” and that deceased people were also left out of fridges and overnight during working hours.

‘Inadequate management, governance and processes’

Presenting the findings on Tuesday, Sir Jonathan Michael, chair of the inquiry, said: “This is the first time that the security and dignity of people after death has been reviewed so comprehensively.

“Inadequate management, governance and processes helped create the environment in which David Fuller was able to offend for so long.”

He said that these “weaknesses” are not confined to where Fuller operated, adding that he found examples from “across the country”.

“I have asked myself whether there could be a recurrence of the appalling crimes committed by David Fuller. – I have concluded that yes, it is entirely possible that such offences could be repeated, particularly in those sectors that lack any form of statutory regulation.”

Sir Jonathan called for a statutory regulation to “protect the security and dignity of people after death”.

After an initial glance, his interim report already called for urgent regulation to safeguard the “security and dignity of the deceased”.

On publication of his final report he describes regulation and oversight of care as “ineffective, and in significant areas completely lacking”.

David Fuller was an electrician who committed sexual offences against at least 100 deceased women and girls in the mortuaries of the Kent and Sussex Hospital and the Tunbridge Wells Hospital. His victims ranged in age from nine to 100.

This first phase of the inquiry found Fuller entered the mortuary 444 times in a single year, “unnoticed and unchecked”.

It was highly critical of the systems in place that allowed this to happen.

His shocking discovery, looking at the broader industry – be it other NHS Trusts or the 4,500 funeral directors in England – is that it could easily have happened elsewhere.

The conditions described suggest someone like Fuller could get away with it again.

UK

MasterChef is ‘bigger than individuals’ and ‘can survive’, BBC says

Published

8 hours ago

July 15, 2025

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MasterChef is 'bigger than individuals' and 'can survive', BBC says

BBC director-general Tim Davie has said MasterChef can survive its current scandal as it is “much bigger than individuals” – but the corporation must “make sure we’re in the right place in terms of the culture of the show”.

On Monday, it was revealed an independent review into “inappropriate behaviour” by MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace had upheld more than half of the allegations against him.

A few hours later, Wallace’s former MasterChef co-presenter, John Torode, said an allegation he used “racial language” was upheld in the report as part of a review.

After the report was published, Wallace, 60, said he was “deeply sorry” for causing any distress, and never set out to “harm or humiliate”.

Torode, 59, said he had “no recollection of the incident” and said he “did not believe that it happened,” and said he was “shocked and saddened by the allegation”.

Mr Davie said the BBC’s leadership team would not “tolerate behaviour that is not in line with our values,” while BBC chair Samir Shah acknowledged there were still pockets within the broadcaster where “powerful individuals” can still “make life for their colleagues unbearable”.

They said several BBC staff members had been dismissed in the last three months, following an independent review into workplace culture.

Wallace, who was sacked from MasterChef last week, is not included in that count as he was not directly contracted by the corporation, but employed by independent production company Banijay.

The corporation has yet to decide if the unseen MasterChef series – filmed with both Wallace and Torode last year – will be aired or not.

News of the findings in the Gregg Wallace report came just hours before the BBC was deemed to have breached its editorial guidelines by failing to disclose that the child narrator of a Gaza documentary was the son of a Hamas official.

Media watchdog Ofcom subsequently launched its own investigation into the programme.

While the 2024-25 annual report showed a small rise in trust overall for the corporation, Mr Davie acknowledged it had been a year which saw the reputation of the BBC damaged by “serious failings” in the making of the documentary.

The BBC boss acknowledged: “It was important that the BBC took full responsibility for those failings and apologised for them,” and later in response to a question, called the documentary – Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone – “the most challenging editorial issue I’ve had to deal with”.

He went on: “The importance of fair balance reporting, the need for high-quality homegrown programming in the face of massive pressure, I think has never, ever been greater. And I believe my leadership and the team I’ve assembled can really help the BBC thrive in that environment and very competitive environment.”

BBC boss has chair’s ‘full support’

Despite a series of failings in recent months – including livestreaming the controversial Bob Vylan set at Glastonbury last month – Mr Davie insisted he can “lead” the organisation in the right direction.

When asked if he would resign, he replied: “I simply think I’m in a place where I can work to improve dramatically the BBC and lead it in the right way.

“We will make mistakes, but I think as a leadership and myself, I’ve been very clear, and I think we have been decisive.”

He said the organisation was setting a “global standard” for media.

Mr Shah, reiterated his support for Mr Davie.

“Tim Davie and his team, and Tim in particular, has shown very strong leadership throughout all this period and he has my full support.”

The report also revealed its top earners, which saw former Match Of The Day host Gary Lineker top the chart once again.

Meanwhile, Australian children’s cartoon Bluey proved a boon for the broadcaster, and was the most watched show in the US across all genres – with 55 billion minutes viewed.

The top 10 shows watched over Christmas 2024 were also all from the BBC.

Recent annual reviews have been overshadowed by the Huw Edwards scandal and allegations of a toxic environment around flagship show Strictly Come Dancing.

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