BGS responds to public satisfaction with NHS falling to lowest levels in 40 years

On 29 March 2023 results of the British Social Attitudes (BSA) 2022 survey, conducted by the National Centre for Social Research, showed that overall satisfaction with the NHS fell to 29% – a 7% point decrease from 2021. This is the lowest level of satisfaction recorded since the survey began in 1983.

The King’s Fund and the Nuffield Trust jointly sponsored the 2022 BSA survey health and care questions and conducted analysis for their report. The main reason survey respondents gave for being dissatisfied with the NHS was waiting times for hospital and GP appointments (69%), followed by staff shortages (55%) and a view that the government does not spend enough money on the NHS (50%). Of the 29% who expressed satisfaction with the NHS, the top reason given was the fact that the service is free at the point of use (74%), followed by the quality of NHS care received (55%) and the good range of services and treatments available (49%).

Responding, BGS President, Professor Adam Gordon, said:

Yesterday’s report that public satisfaction with the NHS has plummeted to an all-time low will not surprise any BGS members. We work tirelessly to provide high-quality care for older people but it is an uphill struggle in an understaffed health and social care sector which has not been designed for the older people with frailty who are its most frequent and intensive users.

We laid out the path to recovery in ‘Joining the dots: A blueprint for preventing and managing frailty in older people’ but it will take courageous leadership and targeted action to make services fit for older people with frailty. The UK Government must urgently resolve the ongoing disputes at the heart of industrial action across the NHS. They must publish their promised workforce plan with much-needed investment for our underfunded health and social care system, so that we can all focus on the substantial task of getting services back on track for those who need them most.”