Half of the public avoided seeking help from their GP about a health concern in the last year

The Health Foundation and Ipsos continue a programme of public polling research, providing insights into public perceptions of health and social care. Every 6 months, we poll a representative sample of the UK public using the UK KnowledgePanel – Ipsos’ random probability online panel.

The latest survey, conducted in December 2025, shows:

• People are avoiding or delaying contacting their GP: Nearly half of the public (48%) report that they delayed or avoided contacting their GP practice about a health concern in the last 12 months. Access issues are a key factor – among those who did not seek help, 30% did not expect to be offered a suitable appointment and 17% thought it would be too difficult to contact the practice. Other common reasons include 27% who chose to manage the issue themselves or wait for it to go away, and 14% who worried that they would not be taken seriously.
• Improving access to appointments at GP practices and to A&E are the public’s top priorities: Making it easier to get appointments at GP practices (36%) and improving access to A&E (36%) are now jointly the public’s top priorities for the NHS. Improving waiting times for routine hospital appointments, which is a flagship focus for the government, ranks fourth in the list of public priorities (27%).
• Public are open to different ways of accessing general practice: There is strong support for actions that could help ease pressures on GPs. Two-thirds of people (66%) support patients seeing other health care professionals, for example practice nurses or pharmacists, instead of a GP where appropriate. Additionally, over half (55%) say they prefer to use online methods of contacting their GP practice to make an appointment, like the NHS app or practice website.
• Views of NHS performance remain negative: Public perceptions of the NHS generally continue to be pessimistic. Over two in five (42%) think that the general standard of care provided by the NHS has worsened over the last 12 months, compared with just 12% who think it has improved. Looking ahead, nearly half (47%) expect standards of care to get worse over the next year, while 15% think they will get better.

Read more and download the slide pack from the Health Foundation's website.

Technical note

The survey was conducted between 4 and 10 December 2025 using Ipsos' UK KnowledgePanel, a random probability online panel. We surveyed 2,214 people aged 16 years and older in the UK. A response rate of 51% was achieved. The sample was reviewed on key demographics to ensure a balanced sample was selected. Weighting was applied to the data to ensure the survey results are as representative of the UK population as possible. Calibration weighting was applied to region and an interlocked variable of Gender by Age; and demographic weights were applied to Education, Ethnicity, Index of Multiple Deprivation (quintiles), and number of adults in the household.

This wave of the survey covers a range of public perceptions including expectations and perceptions of the NHS and social care; wider health policy issues including NHS funding priorities and caring responsibilities; primary care; and use of AI in healthcare. It also includes a Maximum Difference Scaling (MaxDiff) exercise exploring what is most important to people when making an appointment at a GP practice.