Public satisfaction with Britain's NHS hits record low: survey

A recent survey showed that public satisfaction with Britain's National Health Service (NHS) fell to a record low in 2023, with long waiting times cited as a major reason.

The British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey, which was published by The King's Fund and the Nuffield Trust on Wednesday, asked over 3,300 people from across England, Scotland and Wales about their satisfaction with the NHS and social care services.

It revealed that only 24 percent of people were satisfied with the NHS in 2023, the lowest level of satisfaction since the survey began in 1983. The figure also marked a drop of 5 percentage points from 2022 and 29 percentage points since 2020.

"These results are depressing but sadly not surprising," said Dan Wellings, senior fellow at The King's Fund, adding that the challenge to recover public satisfaction is "growing more difficult with each passing year."

The three top reasons for dissatisfaction were long waiting times cited by 71 percent of respondents, staff shortages (54 percent), and inadequate government funding (47 percent).

According to statistics from NHS England, the waiting list for hospital treatment rose to a record of nearly 7.8 million in September 2023. Despite the NHS website indicating a maximum waiting time of 18 weeks for non-urgent, consultant-led treatments, this target has not been met since 2016.

"It is worrying how consistent this is across different NHS services," Jessica Morris, a fellow at the Nuffield Trust, said. "As we approach a general election, political parties should be frank and realistic about the challenges ahead of them if they are to turn this situation around."

The survey also noted that, for those satisfied with the NHS, the top reason was because NHS care is free at the point of use.