ipsos mori: nhs at 65

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What the public think of the NHS at 65 Ipsos MORI, July 2013

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Q Which two or three of the following, if any, would you say makes you most proud to be British?

The NHS remains the closest thing we have to religion

45 40

38 36

16 10

6 6

4 4

3 2

1 6

5

The NHS The Armed Forces

Team GB The Royal Family

BBC Nothing

British Business Houses of Parliament

Marks & Spencer John Lewis

Oxfam Women's Institute

Tesco Other

Don't Know

Base: 2515 British Adults 16-75, Online Fieldwork conducted between 23rd-27th November 2012 Source: British Future Polling – State of the Nation 2012/3, Ipsos MORI

%


Q Please tell me whether on the whole you agree or disagree with each of the following statements:

Pride in the NHS is high, with the majority thinking Britain’s health service is one of the best in the world

Base: Adults aged 16+ in England (c. 1000 per wave) Source: Ipsos MORI/DH Perceptions of the NHS Tracker

71

30

40

50

60

70

80 % agree

Britain’s National Health Service is one of the best in the world


69

17

52

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Net satisfaction scores are calculated by subtracting the proportion of people who are dissatisfied from the proportion of people who are satisfied.

Q Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the running of the National Health Service nowadays?

Satisfaction with the NHS has been pretty steady – and high


%

Satisfied

Dissatisfied

Net satisfied


People born before the NHS was created are much more satisfied with the NHS than other generations

Data: BSA 1983-2010. Each data point represents >100 respondents

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

1983 1984 1986 1987 1989 1990 1991 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Pre War (born before 1945) Baby Boomers (born 1945-1965) Generation X (born 1966-1979) Generation Y (born 1980 onwards)


Q Now thinking about the last time you visited an NHS hospital/ your local doctor or GP, overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied were you with this last visit as a patient?

While patients who have used NHS services recently are very satisfied with the services they have accessed

Base: Adults aged 16+ in England: NHS overall (c. 1000 per wave); GP – all visiting GP in last year (c. 750 per wave); Outpatient – all whose last hospital visit was an outpatient (c. 300 per wave); Inpatient – all whose last hospital visit was an inpatient (c. 100 per wave)*; A&E – all whose last hospital visit was to A&E (c. 100 per wave)* Source: Ipsos MORI/DH Perceptions of the NHS Tracker

*N.B small base size means comparison of figures and trends is indicative only

% Satisfied

** Overall, how satisfied are you with the running of the National Health Service nowadays?

85 85 81 78 69


The report described ‘a tolerance of poor standards’ at Mid Staffordshire. To what extent, if at all, do you think other hospitals in the NHS have these problems?

But there is some concern about quality in the wake of the Francis report, with 28% thinking all/most hospitals have similar problems

5

23

50

13

0.5 8

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

All hospitals in the NHS have problems

like this

Most hospitals in the NHS have problems

like this

Some hospitals in the NHS have problems

like this

Very few hospitals in the NHS have

problems like this

No other hospitals in the NHS have

problems like this

Don’t know

Base: All (1,010) 13th-16th April 2013 Source: Ipsos MORI/HSJ Friends and Family test


And things have changed greatly since the NHS was established in 1948

Sources: ONS, NHS Choices, WHO, The Society for the Social History of Medicine

Population Population Over 65s Over 65s

Life expectancy Average BMI

Life expectancy Average BMI

NHS budget NHS budget


So the NHS will need to continue to adapt…

… but what do the public

think?


How will it balance the

books?


Q Overall, what do you see as the biggest problems facing the NHS?

The public agree there is a resourcing challenge: they see a lack of resources/investment as the biggest problem facing the NHS

%

0

10

20

30

40

50

Lack of resources/investment

Bureaucracy/top heavy management

Not enough doctors /nurses/understaffed

Overworked staff

Long waiting lists/times

8

39

20 19 14

Spontaneous mentions over 10%



% Strongly disagree

They think the NHS will face a severe funding problem in the future – but do not all accept there should be limits on spending

Source: Ipsos MORI/DH Perceptions of the NHS Tracker

% Don’t know % Tend to agree % Strongly agree % Tend to disagree

39%

43%

7% 2%

8% 11%

47% 25%

14% 4%

The NHS will face a severe funding problem in the future

There should always be limits on what is spent on the NHS

Base: Adults aged 16+ in England, Spring 2012 (1001)



While the NHS is seen as the largest area for spending by the UK Government, there is very little appetite for cutting it

Q. Which two or three, if any, of the following areas do you think the UK Government spends the most money on? Q. Which two or three, if any, of the following areas do you think the UK Government should cut the most money from?

Source: Ipsos MORI Political Monitor

50

45

28

22

14

12

11

9

5

3

5

44

28

55

8

3

2

10

4

1

The NHS/Healthcare

Benefit payments

Defence and armed forces

Overseas aid

Social services

State pensions

Schools

Local authority services

Police

Care for the elderly

Most spent on Should cut

Base: 1,018 British adults 18+, 9th - 11th March 2013


What role should the NHS play versus the

individual in maintaining the nation’s health?


15

5% 4% 25% 27% 39%

Two-thirds believe that people have a responsibility to look after their health

Base: 1,646 British adults 15+, 23-29th April 2010 Source: Ipsos MORI

It is the job of the NHS to keep people healthy

It is the individual’s responsibility to keep themselves healthy

I am going to read out two statements, one at either end of a scale. Please tell me where your view fits on this scale.

Q I am going to read out two statements, one at either end of a scale. Please tell me where your view fits on this scale.


16

17% 18% 15% 35% 14%


Half think that the NHS should limit free treatment if people are ‘unhealthy’

% Tend to agree

% Neither agree nor disagree

% Strongly disagree

% Strongly agree

% Tend to disagree

Q How much, if at all, do you agree or disagree with the following statements: If people choose not to take care of their health, the NHS should be able to limit the treatment it offers them for free.


17

32%

37%

36%

13%

16%

15%

53%

45%

47%

And younger people are more likely to believe that free treatment should be limited

Base: 1,646 British adults 15+, 23-29th April 2010

35-54

55+

15-34s

Source: Ipsos MORI

% Agree % Neither agree nor disagree

% Disagree

Q How much, if at all, do you agree or disagree with the following statements: If people choose not to take care of their health, the NHS should be able to limit the treatment it offers them for free.


18

31% 21% 26% 14% 9%

Yet most people are not quite ready to give less priority to people choosing unhealthy lifestyles


The NHS should give less priority to people who do not take care of their health

The NHS should be there to take care of people regardless of why they are ill

Q I am going to read out two statements, one at either end of a scale. Please tell me where your view fits on this scale.


How & where will it provide

services?



Opinion is divided about how well the NHS is responding to provide the services that will be needed in the future


The NHS is changing so it can provide the service we need for years to come

%

Agree

Disagree


Q The NHS may move more services which have traditionally been provided in hospitals out into the community. This will mean more services are provided through GP practices or clinics or by NHS staff delivering them in patients’ homes. How much better or worse do you think this will make services for patients?

20%

46%

16%

10% 4% 3%

Strongly disagree Don’t know

People are not theoretically against moving more services from hospitals into the community

Source: Ipsos MORI/DH Perceptions of the NHS Tracker

Neither agree nor disagree

Strongly agree Tend to disagree

Tend to agree

Base: Adults aged 16+ in England, November-December 2011 (1001)


But when it affects their own local services, the public is concerned about the implications


So what do the public think about the future of the NHS,

given these challenges?


Q Thinking about the NHS over the next few years do you expect it to get better or worse?

Public opinion is divided in its optimism about the future of the NHS, with roughly equal proportions saying it will get better and worse


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80%

Better 35

Worse 32


For further information, please contact:

[email protected]

Anna Quigley

Head of Health Research, Ipsos MORI

+44.20.7347.3996

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