‘NHS must be priority to ‘build back better’

THE NHS should be at the top of the priority list when it comes to rebuilding after the coronavirus crisis, a poll has suggested.

Just over half (51%) of people surveyed said the health service must be a main priority of the Government when it comes to Boris Johnson’s vow to “build back better” as the UK emerges from the pandemic.

Jobs and unemployment (35%) and mental health (28%) followed as the next two most popular priorities, according to the Ipsos MORI poll for the Mile End Institute at Queen Mary University of London.

The research, which saw 1,120 adults across Great Britain surveyed online in March, also showed that most people (52%) believe economic inequality has worsened during the pandemic.

Supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing was the most popular policy priority (38%) in relation to schools.

Other findings in the report, entitled “Not for Patching?”, indicated the public wants to see increased spending, with three-quarters supporting more investment in health and social care compared with before the pandemic.

Some 56% want to see more spending on protecting the environment, while just over half want increased funding on housing, policing and criminal justice, as well as welfare, benefits and pensions.

Four in 10 people surveyed said they were prepared to pay more in taxes to fund public services and almost half (47%) said a move by the 2010 Government to cut public spending to reduce the deficit was the wrong decision.

Dr Karl Pike, deputy director of the Mile End Institute, said: “There are big decisions to be taken, not in the least on public spending.”