Public satisfaction with the NHS 'steady' in 2016

Results from the latest British Social Attitudes survey shows that 63% of people are satisfied with the NHS.

The survey, carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) between July and October last year, shows that satisfaction remains high by historic standards, but is seven points below its peak of 70% in 2010.

A nationally-representative sample of nearly 3,000 people were asked about their satisfaction with the NHS overall, and nearly 1,000 were asked about their satisfaction with individual NHS services.

The NHS satisfaction levels vary among different groups within the population; as an example, overall satisfaction was higher among people aged 75 years or older (74%) than among people under 65 (59-62%).

The three main reasons people gave for being satisfied with the NHS overall were: the quality of care, the fact that the NHS is free at the point of use, and the range of services and treatments available. The three main reasons that people gave for being dissatisfied with the health service were: long waiting times, staff shortages and lack of funding.

Since 1983, the National Centre for Social Research’s British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey has asked members of the public – rather than only patients – about their views on, and feelings towards, the NHS and health and care issues generally. More detail from the survey will be published by NatCen in summer 2017.

Our patient experience team carries out a range of surveys every year, with some fantastic results about satisfaction around 96-100%. This is a fantastic endorsement of the staff and volunteers in the service who they come into contact with. You can find the Trust surveys here, and the national satisfaction survey results here.

Published April 9th, 2017