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NHS satisfaction sees sharp decline, with public opinion on GP services at lowest level since records began

For the first time since the survey started in 1983, general practice is not the highest-rated service

Alex Matthews-King
Wednesday 28 February 2018 01:08 GMT
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Services are struggling from a combination of rising demand, limited resources and a recruitment crisis
Services are struggling from a combination of rising demand, limited resources and a recruitment crisis

Satisfaction with the NHS has seen a sharp decline, with public opinion on GP services at its lowest level since records began, a new survey has found.

The latest British Social Attitudes survey found that dissatisfaction with the NHS has risen to 29 per cent – the highest in a decade – while satisfaction with the NHS has dropped 6 per cent in a year, to 57 per cent, its lowest level since 2011.

The survey, which polled 3,000 people across England, Wales and Scotland about their satisfaction with the NHS, and 1,000 people about their feelings on individual services, also found that only 65 per cent of people are happy with their GP services – the lowest ever recorded.

This was the first time since the survey started in 1983 that general practice, usually seen as the “jewel in the crown” of the NHS, was not the highest rated service.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, said the results were “unsurprising” and that the health service was “running at capacity and in a state of crisis year round.”

“General practice, in particular, is facing an unprecedented crisis. GPs are carrying out 40 million more consultations than a decade ago and are struggling from a combination of rising demand, limited resources and a recruitment crisis,” Dr Nagpaul said.

“Patients are unfairly bearing the brunt of such significant shortfalls, with longer waiting times for appointments,” he added.

“The NHS remains under enormous pressure and patients deserve more than sticking-plaster measures for such a vital public service, which is why the Government needs to take responsibility and fund the NHS adequately.”

Commenting on the report, Professor Helen-Stokes Lampard, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said there was a shortage of GPs to meet patient requirements.

“They are hardly surprising, as what we are seeing now is symptomatic of the inevitable effects of a decade of under-investment in our family doctor service – and just not having enough GPs in the system to meet demand,” Prof Lampard said.

Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said the report demonstrated the effects of “years of overstretched budgets”.

“In Theresa May’s first year in office, there has been an astonishing six-point drop in satisfaction levels with the NHS, while satisfaction with GP services has fallen to an all-time low,” Mr Ashworth said.

“What’s more, there has been a huge jump in the number of people who think the Government isn’t providing the funding that the NHS needs.

“It’s hardly surprising there’s no trust in the Tories on the NHS when in the past year waiting lists have hit 4 million and 560,000 waited on trolleys.

“This survey is the clearest message to Theresa May that the Tory agenda of underfunding, cuts and privatisation must come to end.”

The news comes as patients are set to face delays to life-saving treatment amid warnings over a “staggering increase” in cancellations of urgent surgeries.

Nearly 1,000 urgent operations have been cut this winter for patients with life-threatening illnesses due to pressures on hospital resources.

Some procedures were scrapped due to staff shortages, such as surgeons being unavailable, while others were cancelled due to shortages of beds for patients to recover in after their operation.

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