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Satisfaction with the NHS has fallen to its lowest level in 40 years, according to Britain’s longest-running survey of public attitudes.
Just 24 per cent of respondents in England, Scotland and Wales said they were satisfied with the health service in 2023, a drop of 5 percentage points from the previous year, according to the closely watched British Social Attitudes survey.
This is the lowest level recorded since the annual survey began in 1983 and represents a fall of 29 points since the start of the decade. The results, based on a sample of 3,374 people across England, Scotland and Wales, reflect the impact of strike action on the NHS as it has grappled with record waiting lists for non-urgent treatment.
Dissatisfaction was also at an all-time high, with 52 per cent of respondents saying they were unhappy with the standard of services provided. The biggest issues were waiting times for GP and hospital appointments.
The survey also found 48 per cent of respondents supported tax rises to fund increased health spending.
Jessica Morris, author of the report and a fellow at the Nuffield Trust, said the findings should serve as a warning to politicians in the run-up to the general election expected later this year. “It is worrying how consistent this is across different NHS services, with inpatient, outpatient, dentistry and GP services reporting record low levels of satisfaction.”
Dan Wellings, co-author of the survey and senior fellow at The King’s Fund, described the results as “bleak” but added that they “should not be surprising after a year of strikes, scandals and sustained long waits for care”.
In response to the survey, the government said: “We are making good progress in cutting waiting lists in England, which is one of the prime minister’s top priorities. Despite winter pressures and the impact of industrial action, overall NHS waiting lists have decreased for the fourth month in a row and we’ve delivered on our commitment to provide an extra 50mn GP appointments months ahead of schedule.”
The findings came as a committee of MPs warned that NHS England’s central purchasing body, set up in 2018, had “failed” to persuade hospital trusts to use its collective buying power to drive savings in the health services’ £8bn procurement budget.
The House of Commons public accounts committee said on Wednesday that hospitals were still spending £3.4bn annually sourcing medical equipment directly. NHS Supply Chain was set up after several studies highlighted that hospital trusts were paying a wide range of prices for the same medical equipment.
The report said NHS Supply Chain had “failed to persuade trusts to use it, meaning trusts [were] missing out on opportunities for savings” adding that NHS England had been “weak in its oversight and support” of the procurement body.
Dame Meg Hillier, chair of the committee, said the findings showed that trusts did “not have the requisite confidence in NHS Supply Chain to utilise its services, leaving it at risk of being an answer to a question no one is asking”.
An NHS England spokesperson said it would work closely with NHS Supply Chain as it implemented its “transformation programme”, which would “encourage NHS trusts to view it as the preferred procurement avenue because they provide products at the best value and price”.
