Satisfaction with GPs at low level
Public satisfaction with GP services is at its lowest for 35 years, according to a survey which has raised fears that NHS care is being harmed by staffing problems and underfunding.
The British Social Attitudes survey found that satisfaction with family doctor services was at its lowest since the 1980s.
PUBLIC SATISFACTION with GP services is at its lowest for 35 years, according to a survey which has raised fears that NHS care is being harmed by staffing problems and under-funding.
The British Social Attitudes survey found that satisfaction with family doctor services was at its lowest since the 1980s.
The survey also found that public dissatisfaction with the NHS is on the rise. The National Centre for Social Research found that 57 per cent of people said they were satisfied with the NHS – the lowest level since 2011.
Meanwhile, dissatisfaction in the NHS has risen to 29 per cent – the highest in a decade, according to the research published by health think-tanks The Nuffield Trust and The King’s Fund.
Reasons behind the drop in satisfaction include waiting times, the Government not spending enough money on the NHS and not enough staff, experts said.
The survey of 3,000 people across England, Wales and Scotland found that 65 per cent were satisfied with GP services, the lowest since the survey began.
It is now no longer the highestrated service and is on par with outpatient services, which also has a 65 per cent satisfaction rate.
Ruth Robertson, fellow at The King’s Fund, said: “One of the findings I thought was most striking in this year’s survey is the slump in GP satisfaction.
“Actually the public used to put GPs on a pedestal. They rated general practice much higher than other services.
“But since 2009, when the public satisfaction with general practice was 80 per cent, it has been steadily declining. And now for the first time, general practice is no longer the highest-rated service. I think it is showing the huge pressure on general practice and the public are responding to that.”
But she added: “More people are satisfied with the NHS than are dissatisfied and when we asked them why they are satisfied they showed really strong support for the core value principles of the NHS – being free at the point of use, the comprehensive range of services available.
“I think that this shows that it is not falling out of favour, but people are worried about the NHS and they are worried about funding and staffing shortages.”
Professor John Appleby, of the Nuffield Trust, said: “When we asked people why they are dissatisfied, it is increasingly less to do with pointing the finger at the NHS, and increasingly switching the blame to bigger issues – funding, staffing – which are of course the responsibility of Government policy.”
Professor Helen-Stokes Lampard, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said: “While we are very disappointed in these figures, they are hardly surprising as what we are seeing now is symptomatic of the inevitable effects of a decade of underinvestment in our family doctor service – and just not having enough GPs in the system to meet demand.”
Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “This survey is the clearest message to Theresa May that the Tory agenda of under-funding, cuts and privatisation must come to an end.”
An NHS England spokesman said: “While it is encouraging that for the second year in a row public concerns about waits have reduced, and public confidence that the NHS is using its funding well has again increased, these results understandably reflect a health service under pressure.
“With public satisfaction scores ranging from 65 per cent for GPs to 23 per cent for social care, these findings again confirm the public’s enduring support for the NHS and the measures necessary to sustain it.”
I think it is showing the huge pressures on general practice. Ruth Robertson, fellow at health think-tank The King’s Fund.