According to figures, public satisfaction with the NHS has sunk to its to the lowest level on record as GP access issues and long hospital waits endure.
The British Social Attitudes annual survey revealed that below one in four – 24% – of people participating in the survey were satisfied with the NHS’ service in 2023. This compares to a rating of 29% in the 2022 period. This is the lowest point it has reached since the survey began in 1983.
The study took the opinions of 3,374 people living in England, Wales and Scotland, and is regarded as the definitive way of learning about NHS patient satisfaction.
The figures showed that over half (52%) of those surveyed are not currently satisfied with the NHS’ service, which is the highest proportion since the inception of the survey.
Waiting times for GP and hospital appointments are the main reason for dissatisfaction at 71% of respondents, with staff shortages second in the list at 54%, followed by lack of government spending in third place at 47% (in spite of record investment).
Health think tanks have demonstrated an ‘unprecedented downward spiral’ in public satisfaction in recent times, with levels of satisfaction peaking in 2010, when 70% of people surveyed felt satisfied with the service the NHS offered.
A rapid decline of 29 percentage points has occurred since 2020, due to the crippling of services due to COVID-19.
Nurse, junior doctors and consultant strikes have also resulted in myriad cancellations of appointments and operations throughout the last twelve months, leading to more prolonged delays.
Satisfaction with social care has also taken a fall to 13%, which is also a new low in the survey’s history. Reasons given for such dissatisfaction were the long waiting times, shortages of staff and lack of funding.
The Patients Association expressed dismay by these results.
A spokesperson stated:
“We are dismayed by the findings in this year’s British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey, but not surprised that public satisfaction with the NHS is at an all-time low. The findings reflect the mounting challenges patients face in accessing overstretched services.
“For years, we have warned that the relationship between patients and the healthcare services they rely on has been severely strained by the immense pressures facing the NHS.
“This year’s BSA survey emphasises patients’ increasing frustrations over long waits for appointments, staff shortages and perceived underfunding in the NHS.”
Cancer waiting times have also taken a tumble over the last year, with waiting times in England during 2023 reaching their worst recorded levels. According to 2023 statistics, only 64.1% of patients began treatment within 62 days of a suspected cancer diagnosis.
Other statistics have shown that in some NHS hospitals, patients were experiencing waits of more than 12 hours to be seen at A&E.
What the NHS performance figures show
According to the data, the overall number of people on NHS waiting lists was down 28,000 to 7.58 million in January. Of these numbers, 376 people has been waiting more than two years to start treatment at the end of January, which is a rise on the 282 people recorded in December of 2023.
321,450 people have been waiting more than a year to start hospital treatment, which is a slight decrease on the 337,450 of the previous month.
In February, 44,417 people were forced to wait over 12 hours to be seen in A&E in England, which is a dip compared to the 54,308 recorded in January.
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