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Less than half (43%) the British public think the NHS is providing a good service nationally, finds a poll of more than 2,000 UK adults.
Respondents to the survey are therefore urging the government to do ‘everything possible’ to maintain the NHS, with the majority backing extra funding to support it.
Public perception negative about social care as well as NHS
The poll, launched by The Health Foundation, found that the British public want the government to implement a mix of measures in order improve NHS waiting times and address the pressure on staff. This includes:
- expanding ways for people to join the NHS workforce (90% support),
- expanding spaces at medical and nursing schools (87%),
- improving current working conditions for NHS workers (83%),
- more support to students for the cost of medical training (82%); and
- increasing pay for NHS workers (77%).
The majority (55%) think the general standard of care deteriorated in the past 12 months, and 40% expect standards to worsen going forward, while 22% expect them to improve.
The public is also pessimistic about social care, with more than half (56%) believing that standards have declined during the past year, and 43% believing this trend will continue.
Just one in 10 think the government has the right NHS policies in place
The poll results revealed strong public support for the NHS, with more than three quarters believing it is “crucial to British society and we must do everything to maintain it’.
A similar number of people (71%) back additional spending to support the health service, on top of the money raised by the health and care levy.
Despite this, just one in 10 (13%) think their national government has its policies right on the NHS, suggesting that action is needed to reverse a perceived decline in NHS services.
The public believe the government’s top priorities should be: improving waiting times for routine services (38%), addressing the pressure on or workload of NHS staff (36%), and increasing the number of staff in the NHS (36%).
Government must listen to public, says Director of Health Foundation
Hugh Alderwick, Director of Policy at the Health Foundation, said that the new prime minister, Liz Truss, is inheriting a health system “under unbearable strain”.
“Pressures on the NHS in England are sometimes used to fuel a narrative that the health system needs fundamental ‘reform’. But the public have strong support for the basic principles of the NHS and think we must do everything we can to maintain it.
“They want a health service with enough staff to deliver the care they need, not a fundamentally different kind of health system. And they back additional investment to make that happen,” he said.
Mr Alderwick urges Ms Truss to listen to the public and implement new policies to address the staffing crisis in health and social care.
He said: “Staffing shortages are affecting what the health system can deliver and are an existential threat to the NHS’s future, yet somehow government has not grasped the scale of the problem.
“A long-term workforce plan backed by sufficient investment is needed. If government does not act quickly, it risks losing touch with the reality facing the NHS and the public it serves.”
