Austerity has led to NHS quality of care declining in key areas

The quality of care that the NHS provides has got worse in many key areas and patients’ long waits to access treatment could become even more common, research has found.

The coalition government’s austerity programme in the early 2010s led to the heath service no longer being able to meet key waiting time targets, the Nuffield Trust and Health Foundation said.

Austerity ushered in “really concerning deterioration across the board” in the overall quality of NHS care, as judged by patients’ experience and prevention of ill-health, not just speed of access.

Analysis by the two thinktanks’ joint Quality Watch programme, which monitors more than 150 indicators of care quality over time, found that in England:

• Fewer people with long-term heath conditions such as cancer, diabetes and depression, are getting enough help to manage their condition.
• Breast cancer screening rates for women aged 53-74 have fallen.
• It has become harder for patients to see a named GP.
• Only 6% of midwives think their maternity unit has enough staff to do its job properly.

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Source: The Guardian, 5 July 2023