Public faith in NHS plunges to record low as waiting lists surge

PUBLIc satisfaction with the nhS has hit the lowest level on record.

Amid poor access to GPs and long waits for hospital care, only 24 per cent were happy with the health service last year, down 5 percentage points on 2022.

It is the lowest level since records began in 1983, according to the latest research from the British Social Attitudes survey.

The study, of 3,374 people in england, Wales and Scotland, is seen as the goldstandard test of how people feel about the nhS.

It reveals that 52 per cent are now dissatisfied with the service, the highest proportion since the survey began.

The main reasons for dissatisfaction were found to be waiting times for GP and hospital appointments, staff shortages and the Government not spending enough money on the nhS.

health think-tanks said there had been an ‘unprecedented downward spiral’ in public satisfaction and warned that political leaders should take note of the ‘depressing’ results.

Satisfaction with the nhS peaked in 2010, when 70 per cent of Britons were happy. It has suffered a particularly rapid decline of 29 percentage points since 2020, when services were crippled by the covid pandemic.

Strikes by nurses, junior doctors and consultants have also led to the widespread cancellation of operations and appointments over the past year. Only 34 per cent were satisfied with GP services in 2023, the lowest since the survey began; 41 per cent were dissatisfied.

Since 2019, satisfaction with GP services has fallen by 34 percentage points, with many patients now facing an 8am scramble for appointments and a battle to see a family doctor face to face.

There were also problems with dentistry, with a record low satisfaction level of 24 per cent.

Dan Wellings, of the King’s fund health think-tank, said: ‘With the health service increasingly unable to meet the expectations and needs of those who rely on it, public satisfaction with the nhS is now in uncharted territory.’