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Public satisfaction with the NHS has 'collapsed' to a record low amid long waits for care and wasteful spending, 'gold-standard' survey reveals By SHAUN WOOLLER HEALTH EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL Published: 00:01 BST, 2 April 2025 | Updated: 00:01 BST, 2 April 2025 e-mail View comments A record three in five adults are now unhappy with the NHS following a ‘startling collapse’ in public satisfaction, a damning survey reveals. Britons blame their frustrations on long waits for a GP, dentist and hospital bed, a shortage of frontline staff and bureaucrat’s wasteful spending. Some 59 per cent of adults said they are dissatisfied with the health service, up seven percentage points in a year to a new high.
Meanwhile, only a fifth (21 per cent) are satisfied, down from 24 per cent the previous year and the lowest rate since polling began in 1983. The British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey, which is seen as the ‘gold standard’ measure of public attitudes, found overall satisfaction with the NHS has plummeted 39 percentage points since the pre-pandemic year of 2019, when 60 per cent of adults said they were satisfied. It quizzed 2,945 adults across England, Scotland and Wales in autumn 2024 and is published today [WED] by the Nuffield Trust and the King’s Fund think tanks.
Mark Dayan, policy analyst at the Nuffield Trust, said: ‘These figures make clear that since 2019 and through the Covid-19 pandemic we saw a startling collapse in NHS satisfaction. ‘This was no aberration: it is continuing even today. ‘It is by far the most dramatic loss of confidence in how the NHS runs that we have seen in 40 years of this survey.
’ Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. Read More Patients could find it even harder to see a GP after Labour's hike in National Insurance The figures suggest the public agree with Sir Keir Starmer and Health Secretary Wes Streeting , who described the NHS as ‘broken’ following Labour ’s victory at the general election in July 2024.
The Prime Minister last month revealed plans to abolish NHS England in a bid to eliminate waste, boost efficiency and free-up money for frontline care. The move will lead to the loss of around 9,300 jobs, with some functions taken over by the Department of Health and Social Care. Only 14 per cent of those polled agree that ’the NHS spends the money it has efficiently’, amid a proliferation of management roles and woke diversity schemes.
Some 62 per cent of respondents said they are dissatisfied with the length of time it takes to get a GP appointment, 65 per cent dissatisfied with waits for hospital appointments, and 69 per cent dissatisfied with waits to be seen in A&E. Only 11 per cent of people agreed there are enough staff in the NHS, with 72 per cent disagreeing. Nevertheless, 90 per cent of adults continue to support the founding principle of the NHS that it is free at the point of use, and 80 per cent still want it funded from general taxation.
Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. Report author Bea Taylor, fellow at the Nuffield Trust, said the findings show ‘just how dismayed’ people are about the state of the NHS.
She added: ‘The Government says the NHS is broken, and the public agree. 'But support for the core principles of the NHS – free at the point of use, available to all and funded by taxation – endures despite the collapse in satisfaction. ‘Harnessing this support and fixing the foundations of the NHS must be central to the Government’s forthcoming reform programme.
’ A&E is the NHS service with the lowest satisfaction levels, for the first time. A record 52 per cent of adults are dissatisfied with A&E services and 19 per cent are satisfied, down 12 points to an all-time low. Fewer than a third (31 per cent) are satisfied with their GP services, the lowest level on record, while almost half (49 per cent) are dissatisfied.
Satisfaction with NHS dentistry ‘has continued to collapse’, with levels at a record low of 20 per cent, compared with 60 per cent in the pre-pandemic year of 2019, while dissatisfaction levels (55 per cent) are a record high. Inpatient and outpatient hospital care had the highest level of satisfaction among NHS services. Overall, 51 per cent of the public said they are very or quite satisfied with the quality of NHS care.
But satisfaction with social care remains low at just 13 per cent. A record three in five adults are now unhappy with the NHS following a ‘startling collapse’ in public satisfaction, a damning survey reveals. Britons blame their frustrations on long waits for a GP, dentist and hospital bed, a shortage of frontline staff and bureaucrat’s wasteful spending.
Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrat’s health and social care spokesperson, said patients are ‘at their wits end with a health service that has left people being treated in hospital corridors, or pulling out their own teeth through lack of a dentist’. Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, said: ‘These figures must be a wake-up call for the NHS.’ Mr Streeting said: 'The British public’s belief in the founding principles of the NHS remains unshaken and I am proud to be part of a government that shares that commitment as we deliver our plan for change to make our NHS the envy of the world once again.
’ An NHS England spokesperson said staff have worked hard to improve services over the past year but patients are ‘understandably frustrated’ with waiting times and ‘we know we have much further to go to deliver the care patients expect’. Share or comment on this article: Public satisfaction with the NHS has 'collapsed' to a record low amid long waits for care and wasteful spending, 'gold-standard' survey reveals e-mail Add comment Comments 0 Share what you think No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
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