Majority in Britain Dissatisfied With NHS for 1st Time, Survey Finds

Thank You banners and Union Jack flags are seen hanging across Oxford Street as tribute to the NHS workers during the CCP virus pandemic, in London, on June 4, 2020. (Lily Zhou/The Epoch Times)

For the first time in 40 years, more than half of the British public are unhappy with the National Health Service (NHS), according to the UK’s longest-running public opinion survey.

Fifty-one percent of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the NHS, the highest proportion since the annual survey began in 1983. That’s mirrored by the overall satisfaction rate with the service, which fell to an all-time low of 29 percent from 36 percent in 2021.

Dissatisfaction with social care also has risen significantly, to 57 percent in 2022 from 50 percent in 2021. Only 14 percent of respondents said they were satisfied.

This year’s results are “a real wake-up call,” said co-author David Maguire, senior analyst at The King’s Fund, who urged the government to keep its promises on health care recovery, publish a long-term workforce plan, and overhaul social care.

Jamie Jenkins, former head of the labour market and health analysis team at the Office for National Statistics, said it’s time for “a root-and-branch review” of the UK’s health care system.

Record-Low Satisfaction Rates

The satisfaction rate with the NHS overall has been on a staggered downward trend for more than a decade, falling to 60 percent in 2019 from 70 percent in 2010. The figure nosedived after the COVID-19 pandemic, as record-high backlogs built up.

The drop was seen across all age groups, sexes, ethnicities, income levels, and political affiliations.

Wales showed a slight increase in overall satisfaction rate since 2021, although the analysis noted that the change wasn’t statistically significant, meaning pollsters couldn’t be sure that it reflects a real change among in public.

The biggest reason for dissatisfaction with the NHS is long waiting times for doctor or hospital appointments, followed by staff shortages and insufficient public funding. Among reasons for satisfaction, “NHS care is free at the point of use” overtook “the quality of NHS care” for the first time.

An ambulance outside a Accident and Emergency Department on Jan. 6, 2022. (Dominic Lipinski/PA Media)

The public’s perception of different parts of the NHS also worsened, with general practitioner services, dentistry, and accident and emergency services all facing record-low satisfaction rates.

With regard to social care, the dissatisfaction also was seen across all subgroups, and higher than dissatisfaction with the NHS overall or any of the individual NHS services asked about.

The top reason for dissatisfaction was that people can’t get all the social care they need, followed by inadequate pay, conditions, and training for social care workers and the lack of support for unpaid caregivers.

A total of 3,362 people were asked about their satisfaction with the NHS and social care services overall, while 1,187 were asked about their satisfaction with specific NHS services and their views on NHS funding.

Most respondents (83 percent) believed the NHS faces a “major” or “severe” funding problem, up 3 points from the previous year.

Asked how the NHS should raise funds, a total of 43 percent chose the two options that involved paying more taxes, but for the first time since 2015, the most popular option was “the NHS needs to live within its own budget,” chosen by 28 percent of respondents.

Most respondents said the NHS should “definitely” and “probably” remain free at the point of use (93 percent), be available for everyone (84 percent), and be primarily funded through taxes (82 percent).

Wake-Up Call

A change in people’s expectations may be part of the reason why the satisfaction rates plummeted in recent years, Maguire told The Epoch Times.

“People are now, somewhat reasonably given all the messaging that we’ve heard from the government—that we will recover performance, we will support the NHS, we will support social services, we will make sure that we get back to that 18-week wait that people expect when they pay their taxes. Well, actually, we’ve not seen that level of recovery,” he said.

A government sign advising people to "Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives" is displayed on the advertising boards in Piccadilly Circus in London on April 13, 2020. (Glyn KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)

He said it’s “hard to say,” if a different political party would have done better.

“Time and again, we’ve seen multiple different governments with different colours kicking the can down the road on social care reform.”

Maguire said the survey results “should really be a wake-up call to the government,” but suggested that it could “take a number of years” for satisfaction to recover.

Achieving the government’s promised targets has “proved to be very difficult,” and worsened by industrial action, he said.

Maguire said the NHS and social care staff are “doing everything they can to keep a high quality of service,” and the government needs to publish a funded a long-term workforce plan soon.

He also called for long-term reform in social care so it can better support the NHS.

Maguire said it should be possible to fund the NHS to a satisfactory level, even with ever-increasing demand.

He said one piece of the puzzle could be to focus more on prevention, but it’s “really hard to unlock that when you’re constantly fighting fires.”

In an email to The Epoch Times, Jenkins also said the survey results should be a wake-up call.

“For too long, the same model that is obviously broken continues, and the system needs a root-and-branch review ... to include what the NHS should and shouldn’t provide, to ensure better outcomes for patients,” he 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,” a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times.

“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 percent from the peak. We have delivered 3.3 million tests, scans, and checks to detect cancer and other conditions as early as possible through our 94 community diagnostic centres and more will be rolled out this year.

“At the same, we are investing up to £14.1 billion in health and social care over the next two years to support the workforce and ensure patients receive the highest-quality care.”

The Scottish government disputed the results of the survey, citing other local polls that show more-favourable results.

“This UK-wide survey does not specifically reflect public satisfaction in Scotland,” a spokesperson said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times.

“The most recently available data for Scotland, from the 2021/22 Scottish Social Attitudes survey which, while using a slightly different and therefore not directly comparable methodology to the British Social Attitudes survey, found that over half (54 percent) indicated that they were either ’very‘ (12 percent) or ’quite' (43 percent) satisfied with the way in which NHS Scotland is run.

“Like health services across the UK and globally, NHS Scotland is facing the greatest challenge in its history as the pandemic continues to affect services, Brexit has impacted staffing, high energy and inflation costs, as well as winter infection rates all putting significant pressure on the sector,” the statement reads.

“We are determined to recover and redesign our services and have committed £1 [billion] as part of that recovery effort.”