Britons say NHS is overstretched and they expect it to get worse in the future
As the NHS celebrates its 75th anniversary, our latest multi-country survey finds Britons the most likely to say that their health system is overstretched, with eight in ten (83%) agreeing with this statement. Just 6% of people in Great Britain disagree. In comparison, the global country average is 56%. In addition to feeling the system is overstretched, half of Britons are also feeling pessimistic about the quality of the healthcare they receive – 47% of people say that they expect the quality of their healthcare to get worse in the coming years. In contrast, only one in ten say they think it will improve.
A majority of Britons (52%) disagree that it is easy to get an appointment with a doctor in their local area, but 29% agree that is easy. Three quarters of us (76%) agree that waiting times are too long, one of the highest rates of agreement amongst the 28 countries surveyed, with only Poland (79%) and Hungary (81%) more likely to agree that this is an issue.
Whilst many of us may be concerned about the future of our healthcare, there are some positive messages come from the data, with 46% of people saying they trust the healthcare service to provide them with the best treatment; a quarter of Britons (26%) say they disagree.
Anna Quigley, Research Director at Ipsos, says:
Brits have long been more worried than those in other countries about the future of their national healthcare service. What has changed more recently is their view of the current standard of service provision. Historically Brits were more positive than other countries about the care they were currently receiving, and this is where we are really seeing things change. From other data we collect, for example, on experiences of GP practices, we have seen that this is mainly linked to views around access.
Before the pandemic we were already seeing a slow steady decline in ratings, but these have decreased much more sharply since the pandemic. The public recognises the challenges facing the NHS now and over the coming years, and it will be difficult for any politician to reassure them about the future of the service. However, we also know that the public trust the Conservatives less on the NHS than Labour, so it really will be an uphill battle to convince them that they are capable of resolving its problems.
Technical Note
These are the results of a 28-country survey conducted by Ipsos on its Global Advisor online platform between Friday, March 24 and Friday, April 7, 2023. For this survey, Ipsos interviewed a total of 21,530 adults aged 18-74 in Canada, South Africa, Turkey, and the United States, 20-74 in Thailand, 21-74 in Indonesia and Singapore, and 16-74 in all other countries.
The sample consists of approximately 2,000 individuals in Japan, 1,000 individuals in each of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and the U.S., and 500 individuals in each of Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, and Turkey.
The samples in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the U.S. can be taken as representative of their general adult population under the age of 75.
The samples in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, and Turkey are more urban, more educated, and/or more affluent than the general population. The survey results for these countries should be viewed as reflecting the views of the more “connected” segment of their population.
The data is weighted so that each country’s sample composition best reflects the demographic profile of the adult population according to the most recent census data.
“The Global Country Average” reflects the average result for all the countries and markets where the survey was conducted. It has not been adjusted to the population size of each country or market and is not intended to suggest a total result.
Where results do not sum to 100 or the ‘difference’ appears to be +/-1 more/less than the actual, this may be due to rounding, multiple responses, or the exclusion of “don't know” or not stated responses.
The precision of Ipsos online polls is calculated using a credibility interval with a poll of 1,000 accurate to +/- 3.5 percentage points and of 500 accurate to +/- 5.0 percentage points. For more information on Ipsos' use of credibility intervals, please visit the Ipsos website.
The publication of these findings abides by local rules and regulations.
