Why a record one in three of us are fed up with GPs
SOARING numbers of patients are unhappy with the way the NHS is run, research reveals.
The percentage of adults dissatisfied with the Health Service has risen to 23 per cent – the biggest reported increase in 30 years.
Patients are particularly unhappy about waiting times to see a GP and the overall standard of appointments.
A total of 31 per cent are not satisfied with family doctor services, the highest level since the survey began in 1983.
Research involving 2,169 adults by health charity The King’s Fund also found waiting times for GP and outpatient hospital appointments were the most pressing cause for concern. The Government blamed falling satisfaction levels on the pressures of the growing, ageing population.
But MP Heidi Alexander, Labour’s health spokesman, said: ‘This is the clearest sign yet that the public has lost trust in David Cameron’s handling of the NHS.
‘The fact that one quarter of the public are now dissatisfied with the NHS shows just how far it has declined on this Government’s watch. Five years of a Tory government have left the NHS understaffed, underfunded and unable to cope with rising demand.’
A Department of Health spokesman pointed out that satisfaction levels were six points worse for the Labour-run Welsh NHS. ‘There is pressure on the NHS as our population ages, and that’s why the Government is investing record amounts to transform care,’ he said. Of those adults dissatisfied with the NHS, 46 per cent said it took too long to get a GP or hospital outpatient appointment.
Waiting times for GP appointments are now up to three weeks in many parts of the country as surgeries are so short-staffed. And hospital lists are so long that 6,000 patients face delays of more than a year for routine operations.
John Appleby, chief economist at The King’s Fund, said: ‘It is no surprise to find that dissatisfaction is driven by waiting times for appointments and perceptions of underfunding and staff shortages. However, it is also apparent that people’s perceptions are influenced by their views about a range of factors including politics, policy and public institutions.’
The percentage of adults who said they were dissatisfied rose from 15 per cent last year to 23 per cent now – the biggest increase since the survey began. Just 69 per cent reported being satisfied with GP services, down from 71 per cent last year and 80 per cent in 2009.
Many are finding it increasingly difficult to get an appointment as surgeries struggle to cope with rising immigration and the ageing population.
Only last week, family doctors voted to stop visiting care homes because they were so overwhelmed with work. At a crisis conference, they called for surgeries to be allowed to opt out of providing such services.
Dr Maureen Baker, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said the pressure on family doctors ‘is a threat to our own health and our patients’ safety’.
‘Threat to patient safety’