Public satisfaction with general practice has continued to fall over the past year, with just under one in three people saying they are ‘satisfied with GP services’.
The latest British Social Attitudes Survey (BSA) found that just one in five people (21%) said they were ‘satisfied with the way the NHS runs’.
It found that satisfaction with general practice continued to decrease, mirroring the trend over the last few years, with 31% of members of the British public satisfied with GP services, compared with 34% in 2023.
And GP appointments were at the top of people’s crucial issues for the NHS, according to the survey, with 51% of respondents saying that felt the most important priority for the NHS should be ‘making it easier to get a GP appointment’.
The survey, published today by the Nuffield Trust and the King’s Fund, highlighted that dissatisfaction with waiting times and the ability to get an appointment ‘is widespread’, and is consistent across respondents from all ages and UK countries, with 62% of all respondents ‘dissatisfied with the time it takes to get a GP appointment’.
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According to the survey analysis, NHS spending is also ‘worrying’ the public, with a strong majority (69%) saying that the government spends ‘too little’ or ‘far too little’ on the NHS. Only 14% agreed that ‘the NHS spends the money it has efficiently’.
Last year, the survey found that large numbers of the public were willing to pay higher taxes to fund the NHS, as satisfaction with GP services was at 34%.
Responding to the findings, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary and chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger said nurses are having to treat patients ‘in unsafe and undignified conditions’, every day.
‘One way to turn public satisfaction around is to invest in the value of the nursing profession whilst investing in nursing pay,’ she added.
‘Until there is a recognition of the value of the nursing workforce, the public satisfaction will continue to fall and plans for the future of the NHS will not succeed.’
The main findings
Satisfaction with the NHS
• In 2024, just one in five British adults (21%) were ‘very’ or ‘quite’ satisfied with the way in which the NHS runs. This is the lowest level of satisfaction recorded since the survey began in 1983 and shows a steep decline of 39 percentage points since 2019. Only 2% of respondents were ‘very’ satisfied with the NHS, down from 4% in 2023
Satisfaction with different NHS services
• Public satisfaction with A&E services has fallen sharply, from 31% to just 19%, and dissatisfaction has risen from 37% to 52%. These are the worst figures on record by a large margin and make A&E the service with lowest satisfaction levels for the first time.
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• Satisfaction with NHS dentistry has continued to collapse. As recently as 2019 this was at 60%, but it has now fallen to a record low of 20%. Dissatisfaction levels (55%) are the highest for any specific NHS service asked about.
• Satisfaction with GP services continued to fall, mirroring the trend over the last few years. 31% of respondents said they were satisfied with GP services, compared with 34% in 2023.
• Inpatient and outpatient hospital care is the part of the NHS with the highest levels of satisfaction, with 32% saying they were satisfied and only 28% dissatisfied.
Attitudes to standards of care, staffing and efficiency
• The majority of the public (51%) said they were satisfied with the quality of NHS care. People aged 65 and over were more likely to be satisfied (68%) with the quality of NHS care than those under 65 (47%).
• Dissatisfaction with waiting times and the ability to get an appointment is widespread, and is consistent across respondents from all ages and UK countries:
– 62% of all respondents were dissatisfied with the time it takes to get a GP appointment. 23% were satisfied.
– 65% of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the length of time it takes to get hospital care. 14% said they were dissatisfied.
– Dissatisfaction levels are highest regarding the length of time it takes to be seen in A&E. 69% of respondents said they were dissatisfied, while just 12% said they were satisfied.
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• Only 11% agreed that ‘there are enough staff in the NHS these days’. 72% disagreed
A version of this article first appeared on our sister title, Pulse.
