A new report by the King’s Fund has revealed that 59 per cent of people said they were ‘very’ or ‘quite’ satisfied with the NHS in 2024, which is an increase from 53 per cent in 2023. Since the British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey began in 1983, this is the highest level of dissatisfaction with the NHS.
The BSA is carried out every year by the National Centre for Social Research, and provides a gauge of public satisfaction with the NHS, as well as what is causing these feelings. The 2024 survey was carried out in September and October 2024.
The survey reported that only 21 per cent of adults were ‘very’ or ‘quite’ satisfied with the way the NHS is running. Only two percent of respondents reported being ‘very’ satisfied with the health service, down from four per cent in 2023. In 2010, 70 per cent of respondents reported being ‘very’ or ‘quite’ satisfied with the NHS.
There is a generational divide, with younger groups more likely to be less satisfied.
Public satisfaction with A&E services has fallen sharply, from 31 per cent to just 19 per cent. Dissatisfaction has risen from 37 per cent to 52 per cent, which are the worst figures on record by a large margin and make A&E the service with the lowest satisfaction levels for the first time.
Dentistry services, too, have fallen to a record low, with 20 per cent satisfied. This is a sharp fall from 60 per cent of respondents satisfied with dentistry services in 2019. GP satisfaction, too, was on the decline, with 31 per cent of survey respondents satisfied.
However, over half of respondents (51 per cent) said they were satisfied with the quality of NHS care. Waiting times and struggling to get an appointment were widespread reasons for dissatisfaction, with 62 per cent of respondents dissatisfied with the time it takes to get a GP appointment, and 65 per cent dissatisfied with the waiting time for elective care.
As for funding, only eight per cent said the government were spending too much or far too much money on the NHS, with 21 per cent reporting it spent the right amount, and 69 per cent saying the government spent too little or far too little.
Regarding improving NHS services, the most popular priorities in 2024 were: making it easier to get a GP appointment (51 per cent), improving A&E waiting times (49 per cent), increases in staff (48 per cent), and better hospital waiting times (48 per cent).
