Waiting times take NHS levels of satisfaction to 10-year low

PUBLIC satisfaction with the NHS is at its lowest in more than a decade, with unhappiness over waiting times fuelling the decline, polling suggests.

The annual British Social Attitudes survey reveals a sharp drop in the number of people who are happy with the health service, despite the Prime Minister’s £20billion funding boost.

Just 53 per cent of people are satisfied with the NHS, with waits for hospital and GP appointments the main reasons given for dissatisfaction.

The figure is a fall from 70 per cent satisfaction in 2010, with a drop of three percentage points seen in the past year alone.

The findings come amid controversial plans to scrap the four-hour A&E waiting target.

Health officials have said it is likely to be replaced by “tougher, faster standards” for the most urgent cases, and longer waits likely for less serious problems.

Last month saw the worst performance against the target in 15 years, while the percentage of people waiting more than 18 weeks for operations was the highest for nine years.

The poll of 3,000 people also found that satisfaction with GPS is the lowest since the survey began in 1983. Just 63 per cent of those polled were satisfied, while 24 per cent were dissatisfied — double the levels in 2009. The highest rating was for hospital outpatients, with 70 per cent of participants rating these positively.

The polling for think tanks The King’s Fund and Nuffield Trust was carried out last summer, after the £20billion funding boost was announced.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “The NHS in England was recently ranked as the safest and best health service in the world… the launch of the Long Term plan – backed by an extra £33.9 billion a year by 2023-24 – will safeguard our health service for generations to come.”