Between dissatisfaction and support: justificatory repertoires in public feedback on emergency healthcare in the United Kingdom National Health Service (10 February 2025)

Summary

Quantitative studies of public opinion on healthcare often distinguish between support for the system and satisfaction with its services. The relationship between these two dimensions can appear contradictory: in UK surveys, strong support for the NHS co-exists with rising dissatisfaction with care quality.

This study aimed to investigate this apparent contradiction by analysing 169 critical reviews of emergency care visits in the UK submitted to the Care Opinion platform between 2015 and 2023. While reviews all describe instances of poor care, the authors identify the ‘justificatory repertoires’ through which reviewers express continued support for the NHS. This may reveal how societal attitudes towards public healthcare provision are in a recursive relationship with actual experiences of healthcare, and that the articulation of those experiences is deeply shaped by awareness of the broader political context.