Responding to the British Social Attitudes Survey on public satisfaction with the NHS, Professor Pat Cullen, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive said:
"Nursing staff will respond with mixed emotion today – great sorrow that we have sunk this low and hope that the public shares their view that ‘enough is enough’. It did not have to be this way and it did not start with the pandemic either.
“Voters must now make NHS and care services the central issue of the general election.
“An NHS that was once a world-leader is now treating patients in corridors, doorways, and store cupboards. Nurses are exhausting themselves caring for unsafe numbers of patients at a time as they are short of tens of thousands of colleagues. The status quo has become professionally intolerable for many.
“Across the NHS and social care, nursing staff deliver the vast majority of care and there is no turning around the fortunes of either without them. The public understands this, but so must those in government. Bringing down waiting times and improving care requires investment in nursing to improve pay and conditions and stabilise the workforce. Any party wanting to be in Downing Street in a year must demonstrate clear intent.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
Key survey findings
- For the first time in the 41-year history of the survey, less than a quarter of people are satisfied with the way the NHS is running.
- Overall public satisfaction with how the NHS runs now stands at 24% – a fall of 5 percentage points from the previous year. Since 2020, satisfaction has fallen by 29 percentage points.
- Nearly three quarters (71%) of respondents who were dissatisfied with the NHS pointed to long waiting times for GP and hospital appointments as one of their top reasons for dissatisfaction, followed by staffing shortages (54%), and a view that the government does not spend enough on the health service (47%).
