Public satisfaction with NHS falls to lowest point since 2007
pharmafile | March 7, 2019 | News story | Medical Communications | England, King's, NHS, Nuffield, Scotland, UK, Wales, kings, public stisfaction
Public satisfaction with the NHS has fallen to lowest levels since 2007, according to analysis of the 2018 British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey published today by The King’s Fund and the Nuffield Trust.
In polling nearly 3,000 people in England, Scotland and Wales, the survey found just 53% of respondents were satisfied with NHS services last year.
The poll shows a 3% drop since 2017, and a 16% drop since its historical peak in 2010. Waiting times and lack of staff were pointed to as major concerns as ratings for GPs fell to an all-time low of 63%.
Nevertheless 70% were satisfied with outpatient services, showing that those who did receive care were satisfied with the services they received. Meanwhile just 26% were satisfied with social care services.
“Patients are being treated in hospitals that have had years of neglect and by a health service that we know is grossly underfunded. GPS, hospital doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals are working harder than ever before to treat the ever-rising number of patients, but they are fighting a tide of poor staffing, lack of space and a lack of investment. Given this backdrop the levels of satisfaction could have been lower, and I believe it’s almost certainly the dedication of staff in the NHS that prevents this.
“The most recent performance data from the NHS in England demonstrates this enormous pressure on hospital doctors, with 640,000 patients left last year stranded on trolleys waiting for treatment. A recent BMA survey found that half of GP practices were “not fit for purpose” according to the GPs who worked in them partly because of a lack of proper funding. In January, waiting times for an individual to be seen in an emergency department reached their worst level since these targets were introduced in 2004, with thousands of patients waiting more than four hours to be seen by a clinician. This is an unacceptable situation for hospital doctors to be placed in.
“It is unsurprising that in this climate, satisfaction with the NHS has fallen. NHS staff are simply not being given the tools and support to give patients the care they deserve. We need the government to urgently address this in the immediate term and to also ensure that beyond the Long-Term Plan headlines there is a clear road map that gives the NHS the staff, resources and services it desperately needs.”
Louis Goss
Related Content
A community-first future: which pathways will get us there?
In the final Gateway to Local Adoption article of 2025, Visions4Health caught up with Julian …
The Pharma Files: with Dr Ewen Cameron, Chief Executive of West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Pharmafile chats with Dr Ewen Cameron, Chief Executive of West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, about …
Is this an Oppenheimer moment for the life sciences industry?
By Sabina Syed, Managing Director at Visions4Health In the history of science, few initiatives demonstrate …
