Majority of public unhappy with NHS for first time, survey finds

More than half of the public is unhappy with the NHS, polling shows, with a doubling in dissatisfaction in just two years, and warnings of a “tipping point” from which it is hard to recover.

The British Social Attitudes survey, which has tracked public opinion since 1983, found satisfaction with the health service has reached an all-time low, fuelled by concerns about long waits in A&E and access to GPs.

For the first time, the majority of the public are dissatisfied with the NHS, the poll found - with the lowest ratings for every aspect of healthcare examined.

Overall, 51 per cent of those polled said they were dissatisfied with the NHS - more than twice the 25 per cent recorded in 2020.

Researchers said the survey, involving 3,362 people from England, Wales and Scotland paints a “troubling” and “depressing” picture of the NHS.

Data from the poll, analysed by the Nuffield Trust and The King’s Fund think tanks shows difficulties accessing appointments were the greatest concern.

Just 29 per cent said they were satisfied with the NHS - the lowest level since the survey began, down from an all time high of 70 per cent in 2010.

Some 69 per cent of those polled said it takes too long to get a GP or hospital appointment, while 55 per cent said that there are not enough NHS staff and 50 per cent said the Government does not spend enough money on the NHS.

Regardless of party political affiliation, those polled were less satisfied with the NHS under the current Government, than with any other administration since the survey in 1983.

Dan Wellings, senior fellow at the Kings Fund, urged ministers to “sit up and take notice” adding: “This should ring loud, continuous alarm bells in the corridors of power. This is as bad as I’ve ever seen in an NHS survey.”

“There are 1.4 million staff telling everyone that will listen that it is difficult right now. Everyone is hearing the experiences of friends and family... when you have reached that tipping point it is very hard to recover.”

Mark Dayan, head of public affairs at Nuffield Trust, said the record lows seen on every front were “troubling” with more detailed polling of 1,187 people showing the lowest satisfaction on record with A&E, GPs, dentists, hospital inpatients and outpatients.

Just 30 per cent of those polled were satisfied with A&E services, down from 38 per cent last year, while 40 per cent were dissatisfied - an 11 per cent increase in a year, and the largest change in a single year since the question on A&E was first posed in 1999.

He said: “A&E services have seen the most notable decline this year, last year it was GPs seeing a really sharp year on year dive. That is almost certainly connected to a genuine deterioration in waiting times particularly that we saw for ambulances and trolley waits in the months leading up to the field work.”

Satisfaction with GP services fell to 35 per cent down from 38 per cent, taking it to a new low.

The decline seen was less sharp than that between 2019 and 2021, when it fell by 30 percentage points.

Meanwhile, satisfaction with NHS dentistry fell to a record low of 27 per cent - down from 60 per cent in 2020.

The survey was conducted by the National Centre for Social Research in September and October 2022.

‘Sustained and worsening concern’

Jessica Morris, report author and fellow at the Nuffield Trust, said: “The fact we have now recorded the lowest level of satisfaction with the NHS in the 40-year history of this gold standard survey is a warning siren.

“This 2022 British Social Attitudes survey points to a sustained and worsening concern about every part of the health service.

“The Prime Minister has made recovering the NHS one of his central promises going into the next general election, but these results show what an enormous task this will be.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “These sad but significant findings show the public’s frustration with the status quo around health and social care and should serve as a red flag to the Government.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We are hugely grateful to NHS and social care staff for their incredible work including during the pandemic and the progress they have made to tackle the resulting backlog.

“Cutting waiting lists is one of the Prime Minister’s five priorities and so far, we have virtually eliminated waits of over two years for treatment and latest figures show the number of patients waiting over 18 months has reduced by 80 per cent from the peak.”