Britons are less satisfied with NHS than at any time on record

Published

9 months ago

March 27, 2024

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Public satisfaction with the NHS has dropped to the lowest level on record, according to findings from a long-running poll.

Just 24% of people said they were satisfied with the health service in 2023, with poor access to GPs and long wait times for hospital treatment the main reasons for dissatisfaction.

More than 3,000 people across England, Scotland and Wales were surveyed for the British Social Attitudes poll, which is seen as a reliable barometer for how people feel about the NHS.

Satisfaction levels were down five percentage points from the year before – falling to the lowest level since records began in 1983.

From A&E to dentistry, satisfaction with every service is at or near historic lows. Results for social care were even worse, where just 13% were happy.

When asked what the most important priorities for the NHS should be, 52% said making it easier to get a GP appointment and 51% said increasing staff numbers.

Improving waiting times in A&E and for planned operations closely followed – chosen by 47% and 45% of people respectively.

Crucially however, support for the founding principles behind the NHS – free at the point of use, available to everyone and primarily funded through taxes – has remained constant.

This indicates the public do not want a change to the NHS – they just want the model they have got to work, a report analysing the poll said.

Public fiercely loyal to NHS principles

The headline makes grim reading for the NHS – but not for NHS staff.

There’s a clear distinction between the two.

Respondents to the survey are clearly dissatisfied with long waiting times.

That frustration is totally understandable.

But what they make clear is that they fully support NHS staff who they feel are doing a good job under extremely difficult circumstances.

They are also fiercely loyal to the institution itself and do not want its founding principle to change: free for all from cradle to grave.

They want see more funding for the health service and extra staff – and some are willing to see the extra money needed to come from more tax.

But politicians gearing up for an election will know that bringing the NHS up to the levels that recorded high satisfaction more than 10 years ago will require record investment.

‘Continual state of crisis’

Satisfaction with the NHS peaked 14 years ago in 2010, when 70% of people were satisfied with the health service. But since 2020, levels have dropped by 29 percentage points.

“A decade of squeezed funding and chronic workforce shortages followed by a global pandemic has left the NHS in a continual state of crisis,” the report said.

When it comes to funding a whopping 84% of people polled said they thought the NHS had a severe problem, with 48% voting that ministers should increase taxes and spend more on the health service.

It was people with the most monthly income that were more likely to choose “increase taxes and spend more on the NHS” than keep taxes the same or reduce them.

Dan Wellings, a senior fellow at the King’s Fund – which sponsors health and care questions in the poll – said political leaders should “take note” of how far satisfaction levels have fallen ahead of the upcoming general election.

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Professor Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, added that any party wanting to be in Downing Street in a year “must demonstrate clear intent” of investing in nursing to improve pay conditions and stabilise the workforce.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said it was “fully committed” to a “faster, simpler and fairer NHS” and has seen “good progress” in cutting waiting lists in England.

“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,” they said.

“Overall NHS waiting lists have decreased for the fourth month in a row and we’ve delivered on our commitment to provide an extra 50 million GP appointments months ahead of schedule.”

Politics

Kemi Badenoch calls for ‘long overdue’ national inquiry into UK grooming scandal

Published

3 hours ago

January 2, 2025

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Kemi Badenoch calls for 'long overdue' national inquiry into UK grooming scandal

Kemi Badenoch has called for a national inquiry into the grooming scandal that took place across UK towns and cities, arguing one was “long overdue”.

The Tory leader said 2025 “must be the year that victims get justice” after it emerged that Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, had rejected calls from Oldham council for a public inquiry into child exploitation in the town.

In a post on X, the Tory leader wrote: “The time is long overdue for a full national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal.

“Trials have taken place all over the country in recent years but no one in authority has joined the dots. 2025 must be the year that the victims start to get justice.”

Ms Badenoch was joined in her calls by shadow safeguarding minister Alicia Kearns, who has written to Ms Phillips asking her to reverse the government’s decision regarding Oldham.

“We have asked for planned Conservative measures to be enacted, to reverse the Oldham refusal, and for a statutory inquiry into grooming and rape gangs,” she wrote.

Girls as young as 11 were groomed and raped across a number of towns in England – including Oldham, Rochdale, Rotherham and Telford – over a decade ago in a national scandal that was exposed in 2013.

The following year a report by Prof Alexis Jay revealed the scale of exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013 – where around 1,400 girls were abused – and the failure of police and social services to intervene.

It was followed by the statutory Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), also chaired by Prof Jay, who found in her final report published in 2022 that children were still being sexually exploited by networks in all parts of England and Wales in the “most degrading and destructive ways”.

The final report recommended that institutions that work with children should be required by law to report suspicions of child sexual abuse.

In a letter to Oldham Council dated October last year, Ms Phillips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, said that while she recognised the “strength of feeling” over the matter, she believed it was for “Oldham Council alone to decide to commission an inquiry into child sexual exploitation locally, rather than for the government to intervene”.

She added: “I welcome the council’s resolution to do so, as set out in your letter, and to continue its important work with victims and survivors.

“Should the council choose to proceed, I would look forward to the inquiry’s findings and ensuring that any lessons that can be learnt to improve the frontline response are adopted at a local and, where applicable, at a national level.”

Ms Phillips has been criticised for her response by Conservative politicians, including former home secretary Suella Braverman, who accused the minister of “letting down victims”.

However, Ms Badenoch faced criticism on social media by Sammy Woodhouse, a survivor of sexual abuse in Rotherham, who said: “I’ve met with your party for 12 years about this when you were in power. I asked for an inquiry into every town and city, none of you cared. Now you need the vote you want to speak on it?”

And Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “Talk is cheap. The Conservatives had 14 years in government to launch an inquiry.

“The establishment has failed the victims of grooming gangs on every level.”

An Oldham Council spokesman said: “Survivors sit at the heart of our work to end child sexual exploitation.

“Whatever happens in terms of future inquiries, we have promised them that their wishes will be paramount, and we will not renege on that pledge.”

A Labour spokesperson said: “Child sexual abuse and exploitation are the most horrendous crimes and the Home Office supports police investigations and independent inquiries to get truth and justice for victims.

“We have supported both the national overarching inquiry into child abuse which reported in 2022, and local independent inquiries and reviews including in Telford, Rotherham and Greater Manchester.

“This government is working urgently to strengthen the law so that these crimes are properly reported and investigated.”