Private sector pledges to support NHS
The private healthcare sector has pledged its support to pull out the stops to help the NHS in the wake of the health service’s lowest patient satisfaction levels ever recorded.
For the first time in the 41-year history of the survey, less than a quarter of people are satisfied with the way the NHS is running. Satisfaction had previously peaked in 2010, when seven out of ten people reported being satisfied with the health service.
David Furness
Responding to the British Social Attitudes survey (BSA), published by The King’s Fund and the Nuffield Trust, David Furness of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) pledged the private sector’s commitment to supporting the NHS was ‘stronger than ever’.
He said independent providers were ‘ready and willing to play are part in delivering what really matters to the public – tackling the NHS backlogs and providing high quality and accessible patient care’.
Since 2020, satisfaction has fallen by 29 percentage points. Dissatisfaction is also at an all-time high, with more than half (52%) of respondents saying they were dissatisfied with the NHS.
The survey, carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) in September and October 2023, is seen as a gold-standard measure of public attitudes in Britain.
Of those who were satisfied with the NHS, the top reason was because NHS care is free at the point of use (66%), followed by the NHS has a good range of services and treatments available (53%) and the quality of NHS care (52%).
Jessica Morris, 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.’