What are the public’s priorities for the NHS? And is the government listening?

In her first speech as Prime Minister, Liz Truss made putting the NHS ‘on a firm footing’ one of her top priorities. This won’t be easy – NHS vacancies stand at around 132,000 and the waiting list for routine hospital treatment has reached 6.8 million. 

Last week Thérèse Coffey outlined her ABCD of key priorities for the NHS in her debut speech as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. A key speech at Tory party conference will also offer another chance to see how the new government will respond to the priorities of the public. Understanding where the public’s key priorities are is crucial for any government. These latest findings from our programme of public polling, delivered in partnership with Ipsos, provide new insight into what the public thinks about the NHS. We surveyed a representative sample of 2,068 people aged 16 years and older in the UK between 26 May and 1 June. 

Here are five things we learnt.

1) The public is pessimistic about the state of the NHS 

Over half (55%) of the public think the standard of NHS care has got worse over the past year. Expectations about standards of care in the next 12 months are only slightly more positive: 39% think standards will get worse and 37% think they will stay about the same.

Around one third of the public think the NHS is not providing a good service nationally (35%) or locally (33%). People are most likely to think that pressure on or workload of NHS staff (78%) and waiting times for routine services (77%) have got worse over the past year and 61% and 56% respectively think they will deteriorate further. People are less likely to believe the standards of care at their local hospital (36%) or GP practice (50%) have got worse or will deteriorate further (35% and 26% respectively).

2) Waiting times and workforce challenges are the public’s top priorities for the NHS

Only around 1 in 10 (13%) think their government has the right policies for the NHS. But the public can identify clear areas that need policy attention. Improving waiting times for routine services (38%), addressing the pressure on or workload of NHS staff (36%) and increasing the number of staff in the NHS (36%) are the public’s top priorities for the NHS. 

More people now consider waiting times in A&E to be a priority than they did in November 2021 when we carried out our previous survey (up from 20% to 25%). This is likely a response to the immense pressures the country has seen in urgent and emergency care. Fewer people now think vaccinating people against COVID-19 is a priority (down from 18% to 3%). This could present a challenge for uptake of the autumn booster campaign ahead of what is expected to be a difficult winter for the NHS.

3) The public supports prioritising the most urgent patients on waiting lists 

To address the elective care backlog, the government has committed to eliminating waits of over 18 months by April 2023 and waits of over one year by March 2025. But only a few people (17%) support treating patients who have waited longest before those with the most urgent needs. Most (81%) want to see the most urgent patients prioritised even if others have waited longer. 

There is broad support for other measures to address the backlog – including giving patients better information about how long they will wait (93%), more choice over their place of treatment (89%) and more practical support while they wait (86%). However, people are more divided on the role of the independent sector, with 34% supporting the NHS paying for more patients to be treated in private hospitals, and 39% opposed. 

4) The public supports a range of proposals for addressing workforce shortages

The public supports a mix of measures for addressing workforce shortages, even if they require an increase in funding for the NHS which could result in tax rises. The vast majority support creating opportunities for new people to join the NHS workforce (90%) and expanding the number of spaces available at medical and nursing school (87%). 

The public is slightly less supportive of measures focused on expanding international recruitment, but a majority are still in favour of recruiting more workers from abroad (61%) and faster visa processes for NHS workers (69%), even if these require changes to immigration policies. 

5) Most think the NHS needs a further increase in funding

The new prime minister is committed to cutting taxes. This includes reversing the 1.25% rise in the rate of national insurance that was previously earmarked for spending on the NHS and social care. This is counter to the public view. Our polling found that the majority of the public (53%) support the health and social care levy, while only 23% oppose it. Further, 71% think the NHS needs additional funding over and above the levy. 

Is the government listening?

The message to government is clear: the public wants to see the NHS maintained and improved, not radically reformed. Despite the significant challenges facing the NHS, the majority (77%) support the NHS model and think we should do everything to maintain it. 

In her first speech as the new prime minister on 6 September, Liz Truss stood on the steps of Number 10 and announced that putting the health service on a firm footing was one of her three priorities. But her focus so far has been on tax cuts and deregulation. 

Even as the cost of living crisis unfolds, our polling has shown that people are prepared to see taxes rise to achieve progress on their priorities of cutting waits for elective care and addressing staff shortages. As we head towards a difficult winter, failing to take bold actions on the major issues facing the NHS risks leaving the government significantly out of step with the public.

Find out more

Explore the findings from our recent polling in detail.

Luisa Buzelli is Policy Officer at the Health Foundation.

This content originally featured in our email newsletter, which explores perspectives and expert opinion on a different health or health care topic each month.