Britain falls out of love with the NHS: poll reveals three in five now expect delays

People no longer believe the NHS will treat them quickly if they fall ill, according to new polling showing wide dissatisfaction about the state of the health service.

With hundreds of ambulances stacked outside overstretched A&E departments and patients languishing on record waiting lists, voters are far more likely to say the service has worsened than improved in the last year.

Fifty-eight per cent are not confident they would receive timely treatment from the NHS if they fell ill tomorrow, with 36 per cent not confident at all and 22 per cent just not confident. Meanwhile, 45 per cent believe the service they receive has worsened in the past 12 months. Just over half think it has become harder to get an appointment with their local doctor while 41 per cent think their local GP service has worsened.

Robert Ede, head of health and social care at the Policy Exchange think tank, said: “It is concerning to see that a majority of the public don’t believe they would receive timely treatment from the NHS if they became ill tomorrow. There is a risk that the perception of a service in crisis beds in and actually leads to a complete erosion in public confidence."

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Source: The Times (27 August 2022)