Public satisfaction with NHS at lowest ever level

[g3org3y]

article said:

Public satisfaction with the NHS has dropped again, setting a new low recorded by the long-running British Social Attitudes survey.

Just 24% said they were satisfied with the NHS in 2023, with waiting times and staff shortages the biggest concerns.

That is five percentage points down on last year and a drop from the 2010 high of 70% satisfaction.

The poll - the gold-standard measure of the public's view of the health service - has been running since 1983.

Linky: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-68669866

[200bhp]

Its almost like the government wants it to fail so they can say "we tried, but the only way to fix it is to privatise it"

[Mr E]

I read the bbc article but it wasn’t clear if this was 3000 people who have recently used the NHS or 3000 random people in the street.

[tangerine_sedge]

200bhp said:

Its almost like the government wants it to fail so they can say "we tried, but the only way to fix it is to privatise it"

You almost nailed it, but you missed the bit where the Tory grandees all get generous kick-backs from the private health companies.

[Electro1980]

11 years of real term cuts. How could the government possibly have supported the NHS more… [/sarcasm]

I’m sure someone will be along to tell us how no amount of money will help, but years of cuts is the simple reason. If this is a malicious attempt to destroy the NHS or a simple case of incompetence and ideology I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. Funding was cut and cut, only to be increased in the face of a crisis, but not by enough to fix the years of underfunding, the fallout of a global pandemic or keep up with medical advances

https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/the-pas...

Edited by Electro1980 on Wednesday 27th March 07:54

[Vanden Saab]

200bhp said:

Its almost like the government those running itwant it to fail so they can say "we tried, but the only way to fix it is to privatise it"grrr tories

[JagLover]

200bhp said:

Its almost like the government wants it to fail so they can say "we tried, but the only way to fix it is to privatise it"

Not really a recipe for political success though I would suggest.

The government has spent more money on the NHS but demand has risen even faster. Add on to that the impact of the pandemic and we are where we are.

Ignoring Covid spending. We spent £158bn on health and social care in 2019/20 and budgeted £181bn for 2023/24 all in 22/23 prices.

[Electro1980]

JagLover said:

The government has spent more money on the NHS but demand has risen even faster.

No it hasn’t. See data above.

[JagLover]

Electro1980 said:

11 years of real term cuts. How could the government possibly have supported the NHS more… [/sarcasm]

I’m sure someone will be along to tell us how no amount of money will help, but years of cuts is the simple reason. If this is a malicious attempt to destroy the NHS or a simple case of incompetence and ideology I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. Funding was cut and cut, only to be increased in the face of a crisis, but not by enough to fix the years of underfunding, the fallout of a global pandemic or keep up with medical advances

https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/the-pas...

Edited by Electro1980 on Wednesday 27th March 07:54

Per capita

Actual money spent still rose in real terms over the coalition years and has risen faster since.

https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/...

[Electro1980]

And per capita is the relevant measurement. Total spending is a meaningless number. ”I spend 10% more on food now than I did 10 years ago but my two children are starving! I just don’t understand why!”

Edited by Electro1980 on Wednesday 27th March 08:00

[Condi]

Vanden Saab said:

200bhp said:

Its almost like the government those running itwant it to fail so they can say "we tried, but the only way to fix it is to privatise it"grrr tories

Do you honestly believe this, or is just an attempt to pin blame onto those mangers and NHS staff rather than accepting that under your beloved Tory party public satisfaction has gone down? Whatever metric you use the NHS is getting noticeably worse for patients, it's a fact.

[Randy Winkman]

Vanden Saab said:

200bhp said:

Its almost like the government those running itwant it to fail so they can say "we tried, but the only way to fix it is to privatise it"grrr tories

Why would they want to say "grrrr Tories" if the Tories were doing what they wanted in the first place?

[JagLover]

Electro1980 said:

JagLover said:

The government has spent more money on the NHS but demand has risen even faster.

No it hasn’t. See data above.

Which as I said is per capita spend and the population has been rising rapidly. The fact that the population has risen by around 4million or so does not automatically create more tax revenue to spend on public services.

In terms of percentage of GDP public spending on health was 8% in 2010 and a bit more than that now.

[Electro1980]

Randy Winkman said:

Vanden Saab said:

200bhp said:

Its almost like the government those running itwant it to fail so they can say "we tried, but the only way to fix it is to privatise it"grrr tories

Why would they want to say "grrrr Tories" if the Tories were doing what they wanted in the first place?

Because VS would rather believe all NHS managers and civil servants are rabidly anti Tory than that the conservatives cutting funding, when they said they would cut funding and can be shown to cut funding, had an impact on service levels. It always comes down to just screaming “public waste” and something about how some mate of a mate once overcharged on a council job.

[Vanden Saab]

Randy Winkman said:

Vanden Saab said:

200bhp said:

Its almost like the government those running itwant it to fail so they can say "we tried, but the only way to fix it is to privatise it"grrr tories

Why would they want to say "grrrr Tories" if the Tories were doing what they wanted in the first place?

MrsVS and 3 of her recently retired colleagues...hi NHS we have just retired after 30+ years as a nurses we would like to work 2 days a week for you.
NHS... no thanks we do not want you. .
But yeah grrr tories we are 50,000 nurses short. It is all the government's fault

[pocketspring]

200bhp said:

Its almost like the government wants it to fail so they can say "we tried, but the only way to fix it is to privatise it"

Being saying this for years. Pensions are next on the hit list.

[JagLover]

and to return to my point about demand. The Kings fund has tried to calculate it but do not yet have figures for 2022/23

https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/...

[BikeBikeBIke]

200bhp said:

Its almost like the government wants it to fail so they can say "we tried, but the only way to fix it is to privatise it"

If so let's privatize it ASAP so we get the health care we want without the Government deliberately sabotaging it.

Every other country manages fine without an NHS. We should stop it and adopt something like the French system ASAP. ~£3k a year funded by the taxpayer and people bump it up, if that base level isn't good enough for them. It's insane that we all a) Think our system is failing to deliver over at least 40 years. b) Think it's better than all the others. c) Stick with it!

Would you go to a garage the deliberately sabotaged your car?

[Electro1980]

JagLover said:

Electro1980 said:

JagLover said:

The government has spent more money on the NHS but demand has risen even faster.

No it hasn’t. See data above.

Which as I said is per capita spend and the population has been rising rapidly. The fact that the population has risen by around 4million or so does not automatically create more tax revenue to spend on public services.

In terms of percentage of GDP public spending on health was 8% in 2010 and a bit more than that now.

All irrelevant. You accept that the only important metric of funding, per capita, has been cut. All of the rest is irrelevant to the conversation about why services have got worse. The rest, about tax take, total spending, percentage of GDP etc irrelevant to the discussion about why the NHS is worse.

[Electro1980]

BikeBikeBIke said:

If so let's privatize it ASAP so we get the health care we want without the Government deliberately sabotaging it.

Every other country manages fine without an NHS. We should stop it and adopt something like the French system ASAP. ~£3k a year funded by the taxpayer and people bump it up, if that base level isn't good enough for them. It's insane that we all a) Think our system is failing to deliver over at least 40 years. b) Think it's better than all the others. c) Stick with it!

Would you go to a garage the deliberately sabotaged your car?

France spends far more than the UK per capita. The tax payer funded part is more than the UK.

Edited by Electro1980 on Wednesday 27th March 08:20