{"id":249583,"date":"2025-11-07T16:05:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T16:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/249583\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T16:05:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T16:05:07","slug":"the-right-wants-to-destroy-our-fragile-faith-in-the-nhs-dont-let-that-happen-polly-toynbee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/249583\/","title":{"rendered":"The right wants to destroy our fragile faith in the NHS \u2013 don\u2019t let that happen | Polly Toynbee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Public satisfaction with the NHS is at its lowest ever level, according to the most recent British Social Attitudes<\/a> survey: just 21%<\/a> of patients are quite or very satisfied with the state it is in. Deep analysis of the feedback makes for grim reading. Jim Mackey, the chief executive of NHS England, now warns: \u201cWe have damaged our relationship with the population and it\u2019s their service. We only exist at their will.\u201d Public satisfaction is one of the most important of all targets, he said, along with the NHS staff survey<\/a>, which shows that only 64% would recommend their service to a family member.<\/p>\n

He was speaking at the King\u2019s Fund annual conference this week, where graphs showing public attitudes cast waves of gloom. Access to GPs, hospital appointments and A&E were top public concerns; social care has only 13% approval; and the young are more dissatisfied than the old. On quality, the public is a little more forgiving: 51% were pleased with the quality of NHS<\/a> care. But people are perverse. Nearly three-quarters think the NHS doesn\u2019t get enough money and it needs more staff \u2013 yet people are evenly split on whether to pay more tax to fund the NHS, or stay as we are. People use an easy excuse for not paying more for public services: 51% claim the NHS doesn\u2019t spend its money well. One incident, one pointless letter sends a message of inefficiency.<\/p>\n

This fall in satisfaction is deeply wounding to the self-image of a country that counts the NHS as the top reason to be proud<\/a> of Britain: remember those children bouncing on NHS beds<\/a> at the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony. There is a national belief that the NHS brings out the best in us, never more than when volunteers poured in to help during the Covid-19 pandemic. But how secure is that collective good will, with its equalising impulse? When offered a long list of NHS priorities, people ranked \u201cimproving the health of the disadvantaged\u201d last. The public doesn\u2019t share the NHS\u2019s own commitment to reaching those least likely to come forward for early care, in maternity, cancer or screening. And increasing numbers of the public don\u2019t seem to respect NHS workers, according to some speakers at the conference. One leader in the ambulance service warned of the escalating racist violence against paramedics; other NHS speakers blamed the increasing political discourse focusing on race and illegal migration for the rising racism against staff<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yet support for those founding NHS principles remains strong: 91% say it should definitely or probably be free at the point of use to everyone, and funded by general taxation (80%). But there is a worrying wobble: the number saying it should \u201cdefinitely\u201d be available to all fell from 67% to 56% last year. Who would they exclude \u2013 the undeserving, the foreign-born or anyone not like them? Reform party supporters are least satisfied<\/a> with the NHS (13%). They are least likely to believe<\/a> in those founding principles of the NHS.<\/p>\n

These attitude surveys can\u2019t tell us where people get views from. Is all this dissatisfaction from direct personal experiences, or those of a family or friend, or of the 1.5 million who work in it \u2013 or from the horror anecdotes that make the news? Seeing that stark 7.4 million waiting list<\/a> number may be enough for some to make their judgment. The rightwing media is hostile to the NHS on principle, ever eager for discrediting stories. For there is a chasm in \u201csatisfaction with the NHS\u201d between the general public and patients actually using the services. The Care Quality Commission constantly surveys patients: those coming out of hospital<\/a> mostly report good treatment, and people are pretty satisfied with their GPs, with 75% finding their experience good<\/a>. But Dan Wellings, the King\u2019s Fund analyst making this week\u2019s presentation, points to the perennial problem: even highly satisfied patients still believe the worst of the NHS, assuming they\u2019ve been lucky against the odds.<\/p>\n

The NHS is the political talisman by which voters judge the state of all public services. Labour switchers tell More in Common that they will judge whether to return by the state of the service. Voters are insanely impatient: 65% of Labour voters only gave them a year to make a difference; 10% expected it \u201cimmediately<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Labour inherited this ocean liner leaking below the hull, bitterly remembering that they handed it over in 2010 in its best condition ever<\/a>. Now winter flu is arriving in hospitals early, resident doctors are striking without enough cause and this government seems blighted by any passing stroke of bad luck. But the Health Foundation\u2019s latest polling shows a beginning of a break in the clouds. Referrals on to the waiting list increase by 1.5%, while removals from the waiting list rise by 2.3%<\/a> \u2013 nearly enough to meet the target this parliament of 92% starting treatment within 18 weeks<\/a>. They also find <\/a>\u201cpeople\u2019s experiences of their local NHS services are notably more positive than views of how the health service is performing overall\u201d. Views of local services are net positive: 46% say their local NHS gives them a good service; 28% disagree. In survey after survey, those who use the NHS<\/a> most are most positive about it.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s needed is a reminder that the NHS is a collective service. Citizens own it and share it. Tony Blair wanted to make booking a hospital bed<\/a> as easy a choice as booking an air ticket, but that was a disastrously misleading category error. Patients are not shoppers or consumers. Most people understand that. But some need reminding that in a system limited by taxpayers\u2019 cash, one group lobbying successfully means another group of patients gets less. Most people, according to the King\u2019s Fund researchers, do keep that sense of social solidarity. But beware these cracks emerging from Reform supporters.<\/p>\n

skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n

Sign up to Matters of Opinion<\/p>\n

Guardian columnists and writers on what they\u2019ve been debating, thinking about, reading, and more<\/p>\n

Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n